


Oblivion's Call

by TheLoneSurvivor



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Adventure, F/F, F/M, Love, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pilgrimage, Pre-Canon For a Time, Sexual Slavery, Violence, Visions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-17
Updated: 2016-05-17
Packaged: 2018-04-04 19:16:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 67,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4149663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLoneSurvivor/pseuds/TheLoneSurvivor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>*This story is discontinued! The rewrite is located <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/6882154/chapters/15700225"> here.</a>*</p>
<p>Ember'Xaelas nar Rayya has spent her entire life aboard the Migrant Fleet, with her best and only friend. She never thought her life would ever be interesting, and when her pilgrimage starts up, she thinks it would be a simple thing, especially with her lover alongside her. But life can always call for a change of plans, and she finds herself with scars from memories in her past that won't heal, a crazy love life, and responsibilities she thought she would never get, all while out to save the galaxy from the biggest threat it has ever seen; the Reapers.<br/>The redemption of her entire race starts with her.</p>
<p>AU. Has a Quarian “Shepard” since I want some challenge, and I think it's unique. Will go from Pre-ME1 to Post-ME3. Has a very sporadic update schedule. Not for those who want an overall happy story. Will mostly stick to canon, but might do some divergence here and there.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Pilgrimage Begins

“Psst, wake up,” A voice called from somewhere in the room.

Ember groaned and rolled over away from the voice. “I need more time to sleep,”

“But we have school today, and today is our finals. We can't miss them,” The voice informed.

Ember opened her eyes and blinked at the light in the room. She looked over and saw Tali standing in front of the mirror, checking her suit. Ember smiled, although Tali couldn't see it even if she wanted to.

“What time is it?” Ember asked, wishing she could rub her eyes.

“Thirty minutes until class,” Tali chimed, finally looking away from the mirror and to Ember.

Ember's eyes widened. “You woke me up with only thirty minutes left?!” She yelled.

Tali let her head go down to her chest as her shoulders rose. “Yeah...”

Ember bit her lip and rushed off to the kitchen for a quick meal before she had to check her suit and run out the door. She grumbled about Tali not waking her up early enough for a while until she was out the door and Tali was at her side. Ember gave her a light shove. “I barely had enough time to adjust my suit,”

Tali chuckled for only a moment. “Sorry,”

Ember smiled and waved the apology away. “It's fine, I made it out in time didn't I?”

Tali nodded. “Yeah, you did,”

Lana wrapped her hand around Tali's and stopped her just outside the classroom door. She rested her helmet against Tali's and held it there for a while, representing a kiss. “Let's just get through this quickly and painlessly,” Ember said, releasing her grasp on Tali and opening the door.

Tali nodded and sat down at one of the desks and Ember chose one next to her. They suffered through the test, and made it out in an hour, and made their way to the park in the huge ship. They sat down on a bench and looked at the sparse flora in the open room. Ember grabbed Tali's hand once more and sighed.

“Did you ever think you would love another girl in your life?” Ember asked.

Tali shook her head. “No, but you changed that, and I'm so happy you did,” She smiled broadly through her visor and 'kissed' once more.

“As am I,”

They sat in silence, just loving one another without using words, for hours before they decided it was best to head back to the apartment. Some of the residents nodded and waved on their way past, and Ember and Tali did the same. Once they made it to the door, it slid open and they stepped inside. The room was pretty messy and they didn't have a lot of time to clean it. “I only hope that our grades are good,” Ember said.

“Yeah, they _are_ our future,” Tali spoke, striding over to the kitchen, letting her figure be shown to Ember. “I guess we'll find out in a few days,”

Ember smiled behind her mask. “I know we will,”

The next days passed by quickly, but full of worry. What if they didn't pass? What would they do after their pilgrimage? They spent their days reassuring one another, worrying and doing their best to not think of it. Finally, the day arrived and the results were in. They both snatched up theirs in a flash and then hesitantly opened them. Ember's eyes went wide and she was beaming with happiness as well as Tali.

“What did you get, babe?” Ember asked.

“Ninety-six percent! What about you?” Tali asked.

Ember let her results fall to the floor as she embraced Tali. “One hundred percent!”

Tali smiled through her visor and was ecstatic. “Really?”

“Look at the holopad yourself!” Ember encouraged.

Tali escaped the embrace and bent down to the floor and picked up the holopad. On it said, “100%”. She placed the holopad down on the table and hugged Ember. “We did it! Keelah, we actually did it,”

“We did, I hope we get assigned to the same ship once our pilgrimage is done!”

“I hope we can go on our pilgrimage at the same time,” Tali said, letting go of her hug.

“We should,” Ember said. “I don't know how we couldn't really, we're only four months apart in age,”

Tali nodded and walked over to her bed and fell in. “Yeah, I guess we'll be doing that soon? We should get some rest,”

Ember smiled and climbed into bed with Tali. “Right. Sounds good,”

They fell asleep easily enough, and didn't awake until some time way later. That was the first day they could get a lot of sleep in as the test result was keeping them up far later then they wanted. By the time they awoke, they had both slept a good fourteen hours. Ember awoke first and yawned, while Tali shuffled and snuggled into Ember even more. Ember wrapped her arms around Tali once more and they snuggled for about an hour more until they got up.

“When do you think our pilgrimage be?” Tali asked sleepily.

“Soon,” Ember said, slowly rising from the bed.

“And when do you think _that_ will be?”

“A few weeks?” Ember shrugged.

Tali smiled. “Then I guess we'll leave then.”

“Sure, but when do you think we'll talk with everyone else about it?”

“Give it another week, and then we'll mention it.”

Ember nodded. “Ok,”

* * * * *

The next few weeks were of nothing exciting, they tinkered with some things around the ship, as that was what their new jobs were going to be, and did normal, Quarian, things. But then they decided to mention what their plans were for pilgrimage, and everyone smiled and said they were ready. They didn't fully feel it in their hearts, but it was something that needed to be done eventually.

“How old are you?” The captain of the ship asked.

“Eighteen,” Ember said.

“Eighteen,” Tali repeated.

“Usually, people leave for pilgrimage at around nineteen,” He explained.

“Then I guess we're early starters.” Ember said confidently.

The captain smiled behind his visor. “I guess you are.”

Only a few days had gone by, before the two young women were walking along the narrow halls to a ship that would take them to the nearest colony, and leave. Tali squeezed Ember's hand nervously, and Ember returned it. “I'm sure it will be fine,” Ember said, her voice coated with worry.

“You aren't very reassuring,” Tali joked.

“I can't when I'm just as nervous as you are,” Ember countered, a small smiled on her face.

“You'll both be fine,” One of the guards said. “Just find something of use, and return. Not too difficult,”

“How will we be able to find you again though?” Tali stupidly asked.

The guard laughed. “We're a ship over ten thousand strong, I think the entire galaxy knows where we go and when.”

Tali looked the ground from her comment, and Ember lifted it back up. “Don't worry, it was a decent question.”

“I'm just nervous,” Tali said.

“We all are,” Ember claimed. “Every last one of us on the migrant fleet,”

Tali smiled lightly. “Now _that's_ reassuring,” She said, lightly elbowing Ember.

Ember smiled and gently pushed Tali in response.

They loaded onto the ship and looked at one another, each of them smiling. “Is that everyone?” The pilot asked on the small vessel.

“Yes,” The guard spoke for them.

The pilot nodded. “Then off we go!” He said enthusiastically.

The women smiled and set down their gear in the room filled with four sleeping pods. They then walked back into the main room and talked with the pilot. “Why is there four sleeping pods?” Tali asked.

“Because there are four of us,” He answered plainly, flipping switches to get the outdated ship going.

“And where's the other person?” Ember asked, looking around the room.

“Bottom level, or the deck just below this one. He's the second pilot and will take over for me when I need to get some rest. He's just making some minor repairs to the ship now.”

“Ah,” Ember said, nodding her head slightly in understanding.

“Right, well let's go then, can't stall here forever.” The pilot said, starting the small ship up and taking off.

Tali grabbed Ember's and and 'kissed' her, and Ember did the same.

They were heading off to help the fleet, and have one hell of an adventure along the way.

* * * * *

The ship ride was more boring then either of the girls expected it to be. “How long will it take to get to a colony?” Ember groaned impatiently to the pilot.

“Only a few minutes now, actually, I found one willing to accept you.”

Ember's eyes went wide. “Really? Keelah, thank you!”

The pilot nodded. “You're welcome. It wasn't easy though, had to do some tough negotiations.”

Ember dismissed his comment. “Whatever, it's just great that you got us a place to land!”

“Yeah, how long has it been... Two months now?”

Ember nodded. “Yes, it has and both Tali and I have been getting really impatient.”

The pilot nodded. “I can tell, Ember,”

She smiled and thanked the pilot once more, before running off to Tali who was in the other room. “You'll never believe it!” Ember squealed.

Tali flicked off her Omni-Tool and looked at her. “What?”

“We get to go to a colony!” Ember said loudly.

Tali's eyes went wide and her mouth slack-jawed. “Really?”

“Yes!” Ember said, leaping over to Tali and wrapping her in her embrace.

“Keelah, that's wonderful news!” Tali said, her eyes beaming with happiness.

“I know! We'll be landing in a few minutes,” Ember said, her voice never losing its excitement.

Tali looked out the window, and saw the large blue orb dominating most of the view. It had many clouds swirling around it and blotches of green could be seen all over. Ember looked at it too, and they both sat in silence as the planet got closer and closer into view. The blue orb seemed to capture their eyes, and they didn't look away until they had finally breached the atmosphere and were only seconds away from docking.

They smiled and gently bumped visors once more and grabbed their things before standing in front of the door. As the motion in the ship stopped, the pilot hopped out from behind the seat and laid a hand on the exit. “I wish you two the best,” He said. “I know you'll make the Fleet proud.” His smile was large and genuine, and the young women could see it through the man's visor.

He pressed a small, orange button on the side of the door and it hissed and slid open. A man was standing on the other side, along with two guards. He had a small smile on his face and looked weathered from years of being at the colony. The pilot went back to his seat and the girls stepped out and onto the pad before them. The small ship's engine roared to life once more and took off a few moments later.

When the sounds of the ship were faint, the man began to speak. “Welcome to Syritia!” His voice was loud and deep. “You must be the two Quarians that were going to come here?”

The girls nodded and the man smiled even more.

“Great! We will give you the first day to rest and get used to colony life, before your work begins.”

“Will we be getting paid?” Ember asked.

“Yes,” The man said. “You're fine with eight credits an hour?”

Before Tali could say 'yes' Ember jumped in and asked one of the guards by the man's side. “How much do you get paid?”

“Twenty credits, ma'am.” He answered, his voice straight and firm.

“Is that the minimum wage?” She asked, her hands making their way across her chest and begin crisscrossing.

“No, ma'am.”

“Then what is the minimum wage?” Ember asked.

The guard took a quick glance to the man who shook his head, but continued anyways. “Twelve credits, ma'am.”

Ember smiled and thanked the soldier before turning back to the man. “I say minimum wage would work just fine,”

The man glared at the soldier for a brief second, but threw on a smile and looked back to the Quarians. “Of course, that will work,”

Ember nodded in thanks and slightly nudged Tali, silently saying “See? We can get better,”

The man turned back to the honest guard and spoke harshly. “Well, since you like the Quarians so much, _you_ can show them to their place to stay.”

The guard nodded and saluted. “I will, Sir.”

The man nodded and walked off with the other guard following. The guard who remained, eased himself from his posture and smiled at the two girls. “Don't mind him, he's pretty greedy that one.” Ember didn't notice it, but he had a light accent on him, one that she didn't recognize. The whole 'multiple languages' thing she knew humans had, she found quite stupid. She had been quite bored when it was being discussed in 'Galactic Studies' class back on the Rayya.

Ember smiled and pointed out to the colony. “If you'd guide us, that'd be wonderful.” She spoke, her tone happy and pleased.

He nodded, turned and began walking away, and Tali and Ember followed. “So what brings you to the settlement?” He asked, trying to start a conversation.

Tali spoke up this time. “Pilgrimage,”

“I'm sorry, but I'm unfamiliar with what that is.” He said, only glancing back to make sure they were still following.

“It's when us Quarians grow up, we go out on our own in search of something to improve the Fleet.” Tali spoke, her voice of a happy tone.

“Ah, so somewhat like us humans I guess.” The guard said, a small chuckle following. “We leave our home when we're old enough, but rarely return. Sometimes we do, but usually our parents aren't the happiest about it.”

Ember then spoke up. “Sounds like once you're gone, you stay gone.”

“Not entirely,” The guard said, rounding a corner and giving a friendly wave to one of the many people throughout the colony. “We still keep in touch and visit for special times in the year on Earth, but then leave off once more. We're fully on our own by that point, and rely upon ourselves to make the money needed to live.”

Ember looked at him and away from the buildings and sky Tali was looking at. “So, were you so nice to us back there, and now?”

The guard chuckled. “I believe in equality. Just because you're Quarians doesn't mean that you should be treated worse than us. We had that back on Earth, where some people got worse treatments, and less pay in the past. But it never worked out, and now some humans are doing it to the other races.”

“How many people believe in this equality that you know?” Tali asked, her eyes still to the sky.

“Most,” He said, rounding another corner. “Some dislike only one or two of the races, and others hate them all. They believe that the entire galaxy belongs to the human race, and that no-one else should live in it.”

“And what do you believe?” Ember asked.

“I believe those people are stupid. The only way we can survive in this galaxy, is through harmony. We can't just exclude the other races, that have been travelling the stars for far longer, because they're different. I wish that everyone understood that, but they don't. They're the main reason why humanity has a bad name.”

“It does?” Tali inquired.

The man nodded. “That we do. Not all the races like us, especially the Turians, because of the First Contact War.”

“Yeah, I learned about that in history class,” Ember said.

“Mm, then you should know it has most Turians glaring at us when they see us.”

Ember nodded, but remembered that he couldn't see her action. “I do,”

The man stopped at one building that looked more like a block than a house, and turned back to them. “This is the keycard, I'll be sure to get another made for you as soon as I can. Oh, and before I forget, mind if I know your names?” His smile was genuine and kind.

Tali looked to Ember, who nodded. She looked the man in the eye. “Tali,”

The man looked to Ember next, “Ember,”

He smiled. “Nice to meet you, Tali, and Ember. I'm Carter,”

They both smiled under their visors, but he didn't see them. “If you're ever in trouble, just let me know. I'll be there to help.”

They nodded and before Carter turned away, he asked, seemingly, one last question. “So, what's the special Quarian saying you have?”

They both looked at him confused. “What do you mean?” Ember asked.

“It goes something like, 'Keelah, sa'lee' or something,”

“Ah,” Tali said, understanding completely what he wanted to say. “You mean, Keelah se'lai.”

Carter nodded. “That I do. What does it mean?”

“By the homeworld I hope to see one day,” Ember answered.

“Ah, then Keelah se'lai, and until next we meet,” He said, as he turned and began to walk off to his normal patrol as a guard.

“See you!” The girls called, before entering the small house.

It was much smaller than they were expecting, but they settled in well enough, and it was much larger then their small house back on the Rayya. They smiled at one another, and found the bed and fell into it. They sighed, and felt more exhausted then they had realized, as they had been up for over twenty hours without rest. They fell into a sleep that would last for quite a while.

When they awoke, they were in their new lives, and knew they would do the Fleet proud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this story has a lot of headcanons. I'm going to attempt to say them all here. If I remember any more, I'll add them, and if you know of any that I haven't said, please let me know.  
> 1: There's a galactic standard time- It's used vastly on many different systems due to its easiness to remember, and to make sure holidays and vacations, etc. all happen at the same time. 100 mins = 1 hour. 25 hours = 1 day. 30 days = 1 month. 360 days = 1 year.  
> 2: Thermal weapons exist during the time of ME1 and earlier, but were very expensive and hardly used until around when ME2 starts. Thermal using weapons also can fire without the clips, but overheat just as the 'standard' and cheaper weapons do.  
> 3: Travelling, and times, are much different! I'm sure you've noticed this one if you paid any attention to the story, so yes, time is a lot different in this. Why it takes so long to travel, is due to the current technology. The Normandy was built cooperatively between Turians and Humans, which means that they didn't have access to the powerful engines of the Asari at the time of construction. As for the Quarians, they are basically scavengers, and use whatever they can find and get working. Their engines are usually very old models, or don't function as good as they could due to lack of money and resources.


	2. A Colonial Massacre

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ember finds herself with some very unlikable people who have captured her and several other women after ransacking a colony for them for one reason: the slave trade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this went from T to E in one chapter, which was unexpected to say the least. I guess this is when I go for the complete 'realistic' thing now? I guess so.
> 
> (Very sorry for my failure of uploading this, and deleting and reposting. It didn't work right for me.)

Ember sighed and flopped onto the bed, with Tali following suit. It seemed to be the same thing over the month they had stayed at the colony. Walk over here, fix this, walk back and rest, and wait to get paid. It was hard work, and Tali and Ember didn't enjoy it, but they almost had enough money saved up for two tickets off the rock they had landed on. But that would leave them jobless, and without money. They couldn't leave then even if they wanted to, and they were beginning to think they did.

“How long until our next task?” Ember groaned into her pillow.

“I don't know,” Tali said sleepily.

It was dusk then, with a chilling breeze running through the colony, with the five moons of the planet showing themselves high in the sky. It wasn't a cold planet that the colony was on, but because of the massive amount of ocean, it caused huge winds to sweep across the islands that were on the planet. It was a wonderful thing for Tali and Ember in that moment, the sun had been blazing all day, which made them hate their suits.

They laid in bed for too short a time, before Ember's Omni-Tool beeped. She groaned and pulled her arm out from under her pillow and let her device flicker alive with orange light. Tali looked over, squinted and rolled over and away from the light. Ember scrolled through her things until she found the messages and opened it.

_J: The signal tower isn't working right, I need you to fix it._

Ember groaned and mumbled, “Seriously?”

“What?” Tali asked, her voice sounding like she would rather sleep right then.

“The signal tower needs to be fixed,” Ember said.

“Ugh, those Bosh'tets have a way of breaking everything,”

Ember nodded in agreement and mumbled, “Yeah,”

_E: Do I have to right now?_

There was a short pause before the next message arrived.

_J: Yes_

_E: But I literally just got into bed_

_J: I'll pay you forty extra credits_

Ember's eyes went wide, before nodding to herself.

_E: Fine_

She flicked off the orange Omni-Tool and sighed before unwillingly getting out of bed. Her footfalls were heavy as she made her way through the wide streets that was really just smothered grass. She walked by several guards who nodded to her, and she nodded back. The people were more accepting of her and Tali than she had thought once she had just arrived.

She eventually made it to the signal tower, which wasn't flashing its usual red light, and instead had nothing flashing. She went over to the control box and plopped down her tool box right beside her. She flipped open the panel and shook her head in disbelief. Some of the wires had hit one another and fritzed out. She sighed and got to work replacing the wires, carefully removing each of the destroyed ones and placing new ones in.

Once that was done, she picked up her tools and walked back to her small little home. She looked out to the ever-blue and beautiful sea and wished she didn't have to wear her suit; to just be able to feel the wind against her skin, and not her suit, would make her day. But she couldn't and she sighed, and continued walking. Carter was walking by when Ember was and he waved, and she waved back. “How are things?” He called out to her.

“Meh, could be better. Had to go and fix the damn signal tower,” Ember said, wishing she could be asleep.

He nodded. “Yeah, you know it's never been one to work all the time,”

“The day when this signal tower works, is the time that Quarians and Humans are the last species in the galaxy,” Ember said, as she was closer to Carter now then before.

He laughed. “True, well, I won't bother you any more. Stay safe,” He said as he walked off.

“You too,” Ember called out, before directing her gaze back to the path in front of her.

Finally, Ember made it back home and immediately flopped into bed like before and went over to snuggle Tali. She awoke slightly and turned around and hugged her, before falling asleep once more with a relaxed sigh. Ember smiled and rested her visor just next to Tali's and fell asleep as soon as she could.

* * * * *

“When the fuck are we going to get there?!” He yelled, his fist slamming down on the metal table.

“Soon,” The pilot responded, his eyes set on what was before him.

The enraged Batarian grunted. “We need more slaves, and we need them now!”

“Yes, and we will get to the colony soon, just wait.” The pilot said, his demeanour remaining surprisingly calm.

The Batarian flung up his hands and walked beside the pilot and looked out the same window he was. In front of him, was a bright blue planet with small islands covered in green and many clouds that dotted the orb. He smiled and gripped the handle of his pistol even tighter. “Time to spill more blood...”

A cheer could be heard amongst the Batarian's company and then they silenced after a few moments. He turned to the group and looked at them sternly. “Remember, only females. Take any that might be of worth,”

They all nodded and looked at one another.

The Batarian wickedly smiled. “Let's make this run a good one,”

* * * * *

Screams could be heard, and gunfire. Tali and Ember sat up with their eyes wide as another shot was fired. They looked at one another and bolted out of bed and looked out the window. There stood a Batarian with a pistol in his hands. He was looking down on one of the guards Ember had known, his hands up and around his head in defeat. The Batarian smiled and pulled the trigger, causing a gasp from both girls and the guard to fall to the ground, with the bullet ripping up grass behind him.

Ember and Tali both ducked and looked at one another, their hearts racing. “What do we do?!” Tali whispered, her voice on the brink of being considered 'normal pitched'.

Ember shrugged, before she thought of an idea. “There's still a ship that can be used to escape on the other side of the colony. If we can make it there, we can leave and be live.”

Tali nodded and ran towards the bedroom once more.

“Where are you going?!” Ember nearly shouted, before it becoming a whisper.

“Getting something that Carter gifted us for emergencies.” Tali said, whipping back around the bed and laying a pistol on Ember's hands.

“I hope I don't have to use it...” Ember said, looking at the pistol with an expression that screamed 'I don't want to hold this'.

“Neither do I,” Tali said. “Now let's go!” She said as she dashed for the door with Ember following suit.

They ran out into the streets and looked around, a deep crimson fluid coated much of the light green grass that Ember had known to love. She grimaced at the sight of the fresh blood, but continued on and sprinted behind Tali as she made her way through the wide streets. Without a word of warning, they rounded the corner and crashed into Carter who was wearing full alliance armour.

“Holy shit, don't scare me like that girls...” He said, his gun going down from being pointed at them in his shock. “Wait, what are you doing out here?!”

“We're making it to the shuttle and getting off this rock, come with us, please.”

He thought about it for a moment before nodding. “Alright, let's go,”

Ember and Tali smiled for a moment before the sounds of more gunfire interrupted them. They shook their heads and got themselves together before sprinting off to the shuttle with Carter only a few feet behind.

“Hey! Where are they going?!” One of the murderers yelled.

“Oh shit,” Ember said, glancing back for only a moment to see who had seen them.

They ran as fast as they could, but one sound of gunfire and a scream came from Carter. The girls whipped around to see him fall to the ground, his hand held over his chest. He was on his knees for a moment and whispered, “Run,” before another bullet was fired and it pierced through his skull, and killed him instantly.

They had not time to mourn their best friend on the colony, and took their advice and ran. They sprinted and made their way past one last corner and the ship was visible on the landing pad. It was so close, but yet seemed so far away since they had a group of killers chasing them. Ember stumbled only about twenty strides from the pad and as soon as she was up, a pair of hands were around her wrists and locked her.

Tali made it to the pad and hit the button and the ship's door slid open. She hopped inside and looked back just as it closed; there was Ember, twenty paces away, captured by the killers. Her face had a look of horror on it, and she screamed out, wishing she could go back out there to save her. But she couldn't, there were too many of them for her to do so. It would be suicide.

“Wow, someone else made it?!” A man yelled out from the cockpit.

“Yeah... There is...” Tali said, her heart feeling like it was being shattered with each hit she saw Ember take. It was one crack at a time, until she thought nothing would be left, until Ember was unconscious. They picked her up and hauled her off in the other direction of her, and then the ship began to take off. It whirred and sped off at full speed.

“We're going to the nearest city,” The man said.

Tali nodded and then said, “Ok,” The heartbreak in her voice was painfully clear.

They were out of the atmosphere and into the depths of space, and the only thing Tali wished she could do, was have said 'Keelah se'lai'.

* * * * *

She awoke with a huge headache, and clutched the side of her head in pain. Ember looked around and saw three people looming over her with devious smiles on their faces. “Good to see you're awake,” The one in the middle said, his voice was deep and made Ember shudder.

She looked around and saw a few more people around, most of them she recognized. They had all been bound, gagged and forced to their knees. Ember for some reason, only had been brought to her knees and her legs had been tied at the ankle. “So, why am I not locked up like them?” Ember said, nodding her head over to the other bound people.

The group laughed. “You Quarians are weak compared to humans, no need to use valuable rope on trash like you,” One of the crew insulted.

“Yeah, and you got driven from your own home planet from your creations!” Another claimed.

Footsteps could be heard in the distance, and the group looked at one another before backing away and letting the person who Ember assumed was the captain walk forward. He was the Batarian she had seen killing people on her colony.

“What the fuck is this?” The captain said. “What's a suit rat going to be good for?”

The three crew members shrugged and then one spoke up. “Well, they can fix shit,”

Ember sighed and rolled her eyes. The insults and stereotypes were almost becoming too much for her to bear.

“I don't need someone who can fix shit, I need people who can be fucked! Quarians can't without getting sick and dying.”

Ember was relieved that she wasn't going to be the type of slave the captain was searching for; a sex slave, but it made her wonder which type of slave she would end up being.

“Hm, well, there is one thing I know she can do...” The Batarian said, his voice low and a devious smile on his face.

“Eh, boss?” One of the crew asked. “Can we use some of the merch?”

The captain nodded. “Yes, but make sure they're in good shape when you're done with 'em. People don't buy damaged merchandise.”

The crew nodded and began to take their picks of women and pulled out their stiff cocks as they ripped of their pants and undergarments. Most of the women had tears in their eyes as the men began to enter them and let out primal moans. They pulled out, then went back in, over and over while Ember watched as the women began crying out in pain. But the crew ignored their cries and continued on with their own pleasure.

“You're still going to have to do stuff too,” The captain said, his attention completely on her. “But first, what's your name?”

Ember remained silent, too overwhelmed with what was going on.

“Give me your name, or I'll make one for you,” The captain threatened.

She looked up to the Batarian in front of her. “Ember,”

“Alright then, Ember, you will also be relieving me, but not the way they are.” He said, as he pointed to the crew who was raping the poor women who had been captured.

The captain slowly drew out his throbbing member and held it in front of Ember, who had a face of disgust, but was hidden by her visor.

“Jerk me off,” The captain said, his voice stone cold.

Ember hesitantly moved her hands towards the Batarian's cock, and gripped it at the centre. She began slowly moving her hand up and down the Batarian's twitching and throbbing member, and her look of disgust never faltered or changed. She kept pumping the captain's prick as he began to make a low, primal and guttural moan of pleasure, as his seed began to spew from his cock and onto Ember's clothes. She let go of the cock in front of her and held up her hands to stop the load of cum from hitting the rest of her suit, but to little success.

The sticky white fluid was all over her suit once he was finished and began stuffing his cock back into his pants.

“I think that's good for now, send her to the showers. She needs a cleanup.”

One of the crew nodded and had just finished putting his own member into his pants. He picked up Ember and yanked her to her feet. Once she was up, he led her to the shower area and reached for a small cloth and tossed it to Ember. She caught it and asked, “What's this for?”

“Cleaning.” The crew member said bluntly. “Unless your suits can handle a stream of water, I think you need it.”

Ember nodded and waved her hand at him, letting him know he could leave.

He nodded and whispered, “If you even attempt an escape, I'll rip off that suit and give you the same treatment of the other girls.”

Ember nodded weakly. She knew there wasn't anything she could do against him. She had no weapon, no way to even dream of defeating the slavers that had captured her.

The crew member left and Ember activated the shower, letting the warm water run down through the grate in the floor as she soaked the cloth she had been given and began to wash the grime off of her. She thought back to her first ship ride, it had been three months since she had made it to the colony, her former home. She only imagined how long it would be before she was going to find out when she would be getting off the ship.

She hadn't even been conscious on it for an hour, and already it felt like a full day to her. She missed the feeling of Tali being beside her, and hearing her voice with its normal, Quarian, accent. She missed her always being there for her in her time of need, and to be there for her when she wasn't feeling well. Ember sadly smiled at the memories she would likely never be able to experience again, and a tear slid its way down her cheek.

She wished she could brush it away, but her suit wouldn't allow it. She finished up, and threw the dirty cloth into a corner on the other side of the room before walking out and looking out the window. She saw the planet she used to be on, the magnificent blue orb shining bright against the void of space, and Ember's emotions could barely keep in check. She pressed one hand against the glass, and let it slide down slowly, before letting it fall back to her side.

She didn't want to move. She didn't want to be in that damned ship. And she didn't want to be alone. She remembered, what was most likely only hours previous, of Tali making it to the ship, and her watching helplessly as she was beaten down, before she even got to see the ship take off. She didn't even know of the Quarian she loved, and spent her entire life with, was even still alive.

Ember didn't hold back her feelings anymore, and let her legs fall to the ground, unwilling to carry her weight any more. She sobbed, and felt tear after tear fall their way down her skin. She held her gloved hands up to her face, and covered it, not wanting anyone else to see her face, even if she had a visor. She sobbed for a time she didn't know before she had finally calmed down, and a crew member had guided her back to the room where she had witnessed the carnal activities that had let her look out the window in the first place.

“Well, you took a while. Did you take your time getting my cum off you?” The captain sneered.

Ember shuddered. “Don't remind me about that,”

The Batarian snorted. “Look here Spark, I make the decisions on what to do or not. If you don't like it, you can always be down on your knees, or thrown out the airlock.”

Ember glared at the Batarian and set her jaw. “My name is Ember,” She said through gritted teeth.

“I call you what I want, bitch,” The captain retorted. “If you don't like the name either, you can always still pick either one of your options.”

Ember looked at him in the eye, and sat down on one of the chairs and remained silent, directing her attention to the window to outside and shut out whoever was around her. The captain shook his head and walked off back to his quarters, while Ember sat there, just watching the stars pass and wondering how long she would be able to last in the hell she found herself in.

* * * * *

Tali sighed and looked away from the window her life seemed to revolve around. Her lover was presumably dead, and she couldn't even go back to the Migrant Fleet for help. She was alone, and unwanted everywhere.

“I think we'll make a stop in one of the colonies, get some more gear and attempt to make it to one of the cities. Maybe even the Citadel?” The pilot called from the cockpit.

“Sounds like a plan,” Tali said, her eyes remaining on the window and the little stars that flickered like the lights aboard the Rayya. Thinking about the Rayya made her tears threaten to break free once more, before she stopped them and held them at bay.

She looked outside and said to herself one more time, even if she didn't know that Ember was still alive, “Ember, where are you?”

* * * * *

“Move it suit rat!” One of the guards yelled, hitting Ember in the back with the butt of his rifle.

She staggered from the blow and continued walking, her back hunched slightly and her steps uneasy. They had landed on a small space station only a few minutes ago, and her and all the other slaves were being led through the narrow hallways Ember always disliked ever since she got to experience a colonial life. They made their way through the halls for what seemed to be a lifetime, before they finally made it into the main room. It was white and bland, with guards holding rifles on the balcony above and all along the sides of the room. In the centre at the back, sat a Turian who didn't look very impressed.

“I see the slaves have arrived.” He called out, to which the captain responded with a nod. “Just keep leading them in.”

“Alright,” The captain said, his eyes on all his slaves. “Now go into a line for the man in front of you!” He shouted, and the group began to shuffle as they began to stand side by side.

The Turian eyed them all, before his eyes stopped on Ember and his eyes narrowed even more. “Why have you brought me a Quarian?” He asked the Batarian pirate captain. “I'm looking for sex slaves, and Quarians are not good at being sex slaves.”

The captain swallowed a lump in his throat and spoke loud and clearly. “She may not be fuckable, but I found another way to use her. And she's really good at fixing things,”

“I don't need a fixer,” The Turian said, clearly annoyed with this whole debacle.

“If you buy her though, she can be sold for twice as much anywhere else! Quarians are quite valuable.”

The Turian thought on it for a moment or two and then nodded. “How much?”

“I'd say two-hundred credits for her,”

“One-fifty,” The Turian countered.

“One-seventy-five,”

The Turian nodded. “Fine, her for one-seventy-five, and those three,” He said as he lifted his hand and pointed at three of the seven women in the line. “For three-hundred each,”

The Batarian nodded. “We have a deal,”

The Turian smiled and looked directly at Ember with eyes that were practically glowing red. “Looks like it's your lucky day,”


	3. The Trades of Omega

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ember finds herself sold to one person, then off to Omega to be sold once more! But she will have to live through something that will change her life forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a shorter chapter this time around, but I know you all don't mind. Hope you enjoy the latest chapter in Ember's adventure.

The Batarian smiled, accepted the credits from the Turian, and began to walk out with the rest of his crew. “Have fun girls!” He called out as he laughed and made his way through the narrow halls.

The Turian waited until the Batarian was gone before he began to speak. “Well, this will be a unique time for all of us!” He called, his voice echoing off the walls of the spacious room. “We have a Quarian with us, and all of you have never dealt with this type of thing before. You'll be staying here for a week, so my men can give me what they think on you, and how much you'd be worth; they know best after all. But you, the Quarian, you can't be tested. You'll be fixing some things for me so I can see your level of skill. Once we do that, we're heading off to one of the only city in the Terminus systems that will actually buy you; Omega.”

The women nodded as some of the guards closed in. They grabbed them by the arms and led them into different rooms, leaving Ember alone in the centre of the room with all eyes on her. She wanted to say something, but she didn't. Her voice knew what was best, and remained silent, even though she was screaming on the inside.

The Turian rose from his seat and walked over to another exit in the building. He made a small gesture with his hand and the guards began to move the newly-bought women over to him, as he began to make his way through more hallways. Ember followed at the back of the line, always making sure to be up to speed with the group as they walked past the seemingly hundred rooms the station had.

They eventually made it into a room where they were dropped off, and Ember walked inside with the rest of the women.

“Where are you going?” The Turian asked imperiously.

“With... With the rest of the...” She looked to the captive women, and then back to the Turian. “The slaves...”

The Turian let out a laugh and then went straight-faced once more. “You're going to show me your talents, and these men here are going to enjoy the company of the women.”

The guards smiled and walked into the room, but one stayed behind.

“Aren't you going with the rest of them?” The Turian asked.

“No boss,” The man answered. “All of them are already used up now,”

The Turian sighed and shook his head slowly. “They have more then one hole you know, you can use another.”

The man nodded and walked inside before giving a glare at Ember, as a warning.

Ember shuddered, and shrunk as best she could. She didn't want to be noticed, but everything seemed to revolve around her, which was the opposite of what she wanted. But she continued on, and followed her new owner obediently even though her insides were screaming not to. She had no choice in the matter, and she knew it.

They walked into a room with scrap lining the walls and a toolbox on a the floor next to where Ember stood in the room. She looked at the scrap and picked up the toolcase and walked over to the pile. She picked up a damaged helmet that was filled with wires and many other things that could be of use. She sat down and picked it up, eyeing it curiously. The Turian smirked, and spoke up. “Repair that, or make it better than what it once was, and you'll be given some food, and I'll know your worth. Every hour you spend in here and not work, is an hour you don't get to leave. Remember that.” He closed the door and Ember saw the small pad next to the door turn red, symbolizing that it was locked.

Ember sighed a sad sigh, and grabbed some wires and began to connect them to the damaged helmet. She ripped out the padding and destroyed metal, and grabbed more from the pile of scrap. They had left a small plasma heater over in the corner for wielding, and she knew she couldn't escape. She had already seen the cameras that were around the room watching her every move.

She grabbed the heater, and flicked it on and watched the end begin to spew out a white-purple light. She connected the two chunks of metal soon enough, and then went back to her little spot in the centre of all the scrap. Wires went in, and padding too, and more slabs of metal. By the time she was done, it was far more tech-based than it had been before, and she was exhausted. She set down the helmet and stepped out of the pile, before sitting by the door.

Within a few minutes, the door slid open and the Turian stepped in and locked the door behind him. “Good to see you have completed your task. Now let's take a look at this, shall we?”

Ember stood up in silence and walked with the Turian the few paces it took to get to the helmet, and he bent down and picked it up. He held it up, and looked at it for long enough that Ember was quite bored, but she didn't say it.

“Good work. This will be a fine addition to one of the men here, I'm sure. Or, we can sell it at Omega, and make some credits off it?”

Ember shrugged indifferently.

“Fine. Don't speak. We'll sell it, and some of the credits will go towards you. How's that?”

“Good,” Ember murmured.

“Right, well let's get you something to eat. You must be famished!” He said, as he unlocked the door and led Ember to the cafeteria.

She didn't want to admit it, but she was terribly hungry. A bowl of muck, on a plain metal tray was plopped in front of her, as well as a straw when she sat down at one of the tables. She picked up the straw and tried to ignore the fact that everyone's eyes were on her. He food was bland mostly, but she detected some flavour she couldn't distinguish. Once she was finished, she was lead back into the scrap room and sat in front of the window.

What seemed to be a century passed, before the door slid open once more and Ember whipped her head around to see who it was. But it wasn't the Turian like she had expected, but one of the slaves that she had been with. She was wearing nothing but a bra and a tee-shirt and her hair and face had seen better days. She was carrying a roll of something and she dropped it to the ground, without emotion.

“You're lucky you get this, and don't have to be raped every time one of the men want company.” She said, before turning and walking out.

Ember sat up and stretched her legs, before making her way to the roll of something. She grabbed it and brought it back to the window, before unrolling it. It was a small foam mattress that had been rolled up, and it flopped out onto the ground, as Ember looked at it surprised. She had been given bedding, so she guessed that the room was hers for a while. She got onto it and looked out at the bright stars before closing her eyes and thinking one last thought for the day.

_It's going to be a lifetime before we reach Omega._

* * * * *

Days and weeks went past without any signs of being at Omega. The scrap pile that Ember had been whittling down was doing its best at staying at an equilibrium state, as more and more scrap was tossed into the pile; most of the time literally. She got more and more tired of working on the broken items in the pile and wished she could see her lover once more. She had always been there for her, and then she wasn't because of horrible timing.

Ember only hoped that Tali was still alive, and was well. She missed her too badly for her to be dead. She had a feeling she wasn't. But there was always the possibility... She shook the thought from her head and tried to focus on what she was making next. A small multi-tool which had many different things, most of which were in her toolcase, and larger.

The Turian who currently owned her, was quite nice to her. But from the looks of the other women, he wasn't to them. Ember sighed and sat cross-legged on the foam mattress and looked out to the vast emptiness of space. The door slid open and Ember turned her head to look at the person who had entered. It was one of the guards, and he was carrying some more food for her. He dropped it to the ground and muttered something she couldn't hear as he picked out a note from one of his pockets and dropped it on the metal tray.

Ember went over and picked up the note and tray and walked back to her mattress, next to the window. She began to eat the bland food she had grown used to eating, and began to read the small note.

_We will be arriving at Omega later today, be prepared for that._

She tossed the note aside and wasn't sure whether she should feel happy or worried so it turned into a mixture of both. On one hand, she was glad to be rid of the people on the ship and be free of being in the same room for weeks on end, but on the other, she wasn't sure where she would be after that. She would be in Omega, and sold as a slave once again to someone on the floating space rock. She tried not to think about it until she got there, which was extremely difficult.

The hallways of the dock on Omega slightly reminded her of the ship, and she was glad it was only slightly. The complete isolation she had been through didn't make being in such a large place very comfortable, but Ember knew she would get used to it soon enough. They walked through streets with other people and no-one batted an eye, except for the few people who muttered, “Great, another suit rat,”

They made it into one of the thousands of hallways after what seemed to be hours of walking and stopped. The Turian leaned in close to the guard at the door and he nodded and opened his Omni-Tool and typed in something, before opening the door and letting them inside. The room was dimly lit and the room was quite small, but Ember could clearly see someone sitting at the other side of the room. A Batarian was sitting on the chair at the other side and the group of slaves, and the Turian and his guards walked into the centre of the room before the Batarian spoke.

“So, what can the leader of the Blood Pack do for you?” He said in a voice deeper than Ember had ever heard before.

“I have some slaves you might be interested in,” The Turian spoke, his voice showing he was unafraid of the Batarian and Ember wondered how.

He eyed each one, and then looked at Ember and his eyes closed even more. “Is the near-robot one of your slaves?”

“That she is,” The Turian said. “Really good at working with parts too,”

“Your talking about a trait all Quarians have.” The Batarian said coldly.

The Turian shook his head. “You know that's a lie, and this one is extremely good in it. Not just fine, or good, but astounding.” He tossed the Batarian the helmet she had made over a month ago. “This is only one of the things she has made, from scrap no less!”

The Batarian looked at the helmet, and inspected it, before tossing it back. “She has talent. How much is she worth?”

Without even needing to think about it, the Turian said, “Five-hundred,”

Ember looked to the Turian in shock, but kept her mouth shut. When she was first bought, she was considered less than two-hundred. She guessed the Turian suspected otherwise.

The Batarian winced. “Will you go lower?”

“No,” The Turian said firmly.

“How much for the others?” The Batarian asked, as he waved his hand in the other slave's direction.

“Four-hundred each,” The Turian said, after giving it only a few seconds of thought.

“Hm,” The Batarian said, thinking about the deal he was going to make. “So seventeen-hundred for all four?”

The Turian nodded.

“Fine,” The Batarian nodded, sending someone off to get the credits and beckoning the Turian forwards.

The Turian walked up, and within a few minutes the Vorcha made it back and handed the Batarian the credit chit.

“We have a deal,” The Batarian said, holding his hand out for a shake.

The Turian took it wordlessly and then grabbed the chit before walking out and calling, “Pleasure doing business with you!”

The Batarian looked to the girls and then waved a hand before they were all hauled off to some place Ember didn't know. The Batarian then smiled, and got Ember to follow him, along with a guard. He led her into a large room filled with various scrap materials, including an entire gunship. Ember looked at it and whistled, but remained silent otherwise. “Wait,” the Batarian said as he walked off to grab something on a small cart.

It was all bunched up and looked to be something like a human being... Or Quarian. Ember looked at it, getting more and more nervous about what it really was every passing second. He grabbed onto something that looked like the neck and pulled it up, and Ember stumbled back and crawled back a few feet. It was a deactivated Geth, something she had never wanted to meet in her entire life, active or not and it scared her to no end.

The Batarian laughed at her reaction. “Don't worry, it hasn't been awake for years. But that is going to change.” he said, as his smiled grew ever more menacing. “The Turian claimed you're good at fixing things. Fix this, and you'll be worth my time, if you don't then you can have a fun trip down to the planet below.”

The laughed once more and walked off, leaving Ember in the garage and with the Geth that stared lifelessly at her.

_A Geth... How am I, a Quarian, supposed to fix a Geth?_

She stared at the Geth for quite some time, before she began to work on it. She reconnected wires, did some reprogramming on it, and replaced the damaged parts. Just as she was about to hit the button to flick it on, she heard a distinct noise, one that she remembered all too well; a gunshot. She wanted to run, she should have run, but she didn't. Instead, she walked to the door and opened it, and saw the carnage in the hallway.

Blood coated the walls and robotic parts of destroyed mechs laid upon the ground. Guts and dead bodies littered the hallway like discarded trash, and then she saw the killers. They had rifles and were talking with one another, one turned their head and saw Ember standing in the doorway and began to shout and fire. Ember's eyes shot open, and she hid behind the side of the doorframe. She knew the soldiers would run into the room, find her and kill her, but they didn't. Instead, a small ball-like item rolled next to her feet, and it was then she realized it was grenade.

She ran as fast as she could, past the gunship and almost to the Geth before it detonated, and her lights when out with a bang.

* * * * *

She opened her eyes slowly, and waited until they focused in on her surroundings. She was lying down on something, a bed? She tried to get up and see, but pain shot through her body like a thousand Omni-Blades and she winced and fell back to the surface she found herself on. The doctor walked over, as well as the Batarian who had bought her and looked down to her, as she winced and whimpered from the pain.

“Easy there,” The doctor said. “You've been out for a couple days now. You still need to rest,”

“What... What happened?” Ember managed to choke out.

The doctor frowned. “Explosion. You were caught in it,”

“But you made it out alive, and mostly in one piece.” The Batarian added.

“Mostly in one pi...” She had begun to say, until she looked at her right arm. It wasn't her arm, it was a different one.

A Geth one.

“My... My arm!” Ember cried out.

“Yes, it has been replaced,” The doctor said, remaining calm despite Ember beginning to freak out.

“A GETH ONE!” Ember shouted, not to anyone in particular. “You put a Geth arm, on a Quarian!”

“There wasn't anything else we could get to replace it,” The doctor informed her. “I'm sorry,”

Ember felt a rage building inside her. She didn't know where it was coming from, but she knew that a gate to hell was about to open, and there was nothing she could do about it.

“You can stand up now I reckon.” The doctor said, and to Ember's amazement, he was right.

The Batarian smiled. “Great! We can go to a different hideout, and begin to work on something else, slave!” he said happily.

The doctor remained unsurprised at Ember being a slave, as he knew already.

That was the last straw though. Ember couldn't keep the rage inside her at bay any longer, and it released, lashed out and flipped the bed. It charged over to the Batarian and grabbed him by the throat, as he squirmed feebly to escape the Geth arm's grasp. But he couldn't and it clamped down harder and harder until Ember controlled just enough anger to throw him to the ground and grab his gun.

The Batarian raised his hands in an attempt to stop a bullet that he knew was coming. “Don't shoot,” He called, his voice going higher than Ember's when she had first seen her arm. But the rage didn't listen, but it didn't shoot either. It held the gun to his head, but never pulled the trigger. Instead, it hit the butt of the pistol against the Batarian's head and walked out.

But before Ember left, she firmly said, “I am nobody's slave,” and walked off into the unknown territory of Omega.


	4. Change of Career

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ember escapes the clutches of slavery, picks up bounty hunting as a career, and then has a date with a seemingly unimportant Turian.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like hopelessromantoc33 said, I am challenging myself quite a bit already. But I seem to keep making this more and more challenging for myself as I go. Oh well.  
> Ok, this is a much larger chapter than I thought it would be, and I have a nice surprise for all of you in the next chapter!

She walked with uneasy steps through the city of Omega, never stopping and never slowing. She walked until she couldn't any more and sunk to the ground. The Batarian's pistol was still in her hand and she wanted to throw it away, but she couldn't. Omega was too dangerous of a place not to have it, so she kept it and rested it on her lap as she was on the floor.

The anger she had obtained was beginning to dissipate and turned into sadness. She would never again know what it was like to have a right arm; a real right arm. It hurt her more than anyone she had met knew. There was no feeling in it, no pain, no anything, just wires and metal. She shook her head and tried to remain happy, like how she had gotten free from being a slave, but she couldn't. It was too difficult for her to do so.

So she sat and wept for a time Ember couldn't gauge, until the tears stopped and her emotions called down. She got up, and moved stiffly from hours of being in the same position, and saw a sign that gave her an idea. It was a small sign, posted onto one of the metal walls of the city and was nearly falling off. She looked at it and found that it was a bounty note, for one of the people in the city. He was a human, with dark skin and a streak of blonde hair, and looked to be in his late thirties.

She opened up her Omni-Tool and took a picture of the man, before walking off in search for where he could be. She walked into the nearest bar she could find, and sat down, looking around for who might be wanted. Her search had just begun. She soon found that the man lived in the district of the city she was in, and some of his routine. Ember was amazed it was so easy to get information on someone on Omega.

Not too long after, she found the person who she was searching for. She was nervous, since she had never done anything like this in her entire life. But she was going to go through with it, and she only hoped she wasn't another body to be added to the death count on the city. She walked over to the man and spoke clearly. “Hello?”

The man looked at her and sneered. “What do you want suit rat, can't you see I'm busy?”

“It's urgent,” Ember said, her voice growing an anger she had known only hours before.

The human looked at her and nodded. “Fine, let's go,”

She smiled and walked into one of the alleys and stopped so the man could arrive. He walked in only a few moments later.

“Alright, what is it you want?”

“The price on your head,”

The human's expression immediately turned hostile. “Is that so?”

Ember nodded and pulled out the gun from her pocket. “Now come with me,”

He raised his hands, and in a brief moment, a blow landed on the side of her face. She dropped the gun and staggered back, wincing from the blow's pain, before stomping down on the man's hand as he reached for the gun. He cried, and grunted as his head collided with Ember's. She clutched her head in pain and took a step back, before looking back to her enemy.

He nearly had the gun in her hand, and in a desperate move, Ember punched him with her Geth arm. He flew back, and hit the side of a building, and Ember's eyes went wide from the amount of force she had dealt to him. She picked up the gun and looked up just to see the man grab it and throw it deeper into the alley.

“What are you going to do without your gun now?!” He yelled as he went in for another punch.

Ember dodged it and used her Geth arm once more, sending the man staggering back like she had. He snarled and brought his fist down on her visor, and it cracked from the hit. She payed it little mind, but enough for the rage from before to take hold once more. It absorbed another blow to Ember's left arm, and walked over and grabbed the man by the throat and lifted him into the air.

He gasped and struggled futilely to break free. Ember did her best to control the rage inside her once more, but couldn't before it began to smash the man's head into the side of the building. Over and over it slammed the man's head down into the metal, until the screaming stopped and a large pool of crimson blood lay underneath him.

Finally, she regained control and was shocked at what she had done, but didn't regret it like she thought she would. It was almost... enjoyable to her, but she shook her head. She wasn't like that, she was nice and kind to those she met... Up until recently. She sighed, and went through what the man had on him. She found a keycard and a credit chit, and pocketed both and then threw his body over the edge of the station. As much as she didn't like it, she couldn't leave any more evidence than a blood pool in an alleyway. She couldn't risk being caught by whatever authority there was in the city.

She looked at the keycard in her hand, and then made a decision, she would go to the man's house and stay the night. The place was a lot darker then she expected, and was in a bad part of the district. Once inside, she found that the man lived alone, and had a decent setup going on. She saw many things she could pawn off for some credits, and planned that that was what she was going to do. She laid down on the couch and let her exhausted body rest for the first time since her incident.

She awoke sleepily, light from the city blazing into the apartment she had slept in. The visor did a good job of keeping the light minimal, after she had adjusted its tint. She sat up and looked around the house, it was a nice place, but she couldn't stay there. No, it was not her own, and the rent would come eventually.; a price she couldn't pay. She looked at all the things she would need to sell, and then began packing.

The nearest pawn shop was not far away from where she was, and the shopkeeper looked friendly enough. He smiled when Ember walked in and pleasantly asked, “Can I help you?”

Ember shrugged indifferently. “Got some stuff to sell you,”

“Good! I'm always looking for more supplies!”

Ember chuckled with little humour. “I'm sure you are,”

She opened up the bag she had, and began to put down stuff of value that she had gotten from the house on the counter. The shopkeeper surveyed them all and began typing on his computer. Once she was done unloading everything in that trip, she looked to the man. “How much will this get me?”

The Salarian looked at the pile, and then the screen of his computer and then said, “Three-hundred credits,”

Ember looked at him suspiciously. “Is that a fair deal?”

The Salarian nodded. “It is, ma'am. It is of a good price.”

Ember bit her lip and then nodded, and then handed him her newly acquired chit and he stuck it into the machine. Only a few moments later, the little number on it that said “673” then said “973” and she smiled. “I'll be back soon,”

“I only hope so,” Was all the Salarian said as Ember walked out the door and back into the streets of Omega.

After selling everything, and looking at the decent balance of over one-thousand credits, she smiled to herself. She was walking to another bar, when something caught her eye. A screen was up on one of the buildings, and it was another bounty screen. It was a Turian who looked quite aged, and wore basic clothes. The bounty was two-thousand credits, dead or alive and Ember smiled to herself. She had just found her new job on Omega.

* * * * *

_Bang!_

The gunshot echoed through the streets of the city of orange, and the bullet found its way into the Krogan's head. He didn't even make any noise, and then fell to the ground as his friends and gang members circled around him and looked around for the killer. Ember smiled to herself, and mumbled, “Another contract done,” as she packed up her sniper rifle and placed it on her back. She walked along the balcony and made her way inside the building, before exiting and walking back to where she had gotten her bounty.

It had been over two months since she had completed her first bounty contract, and she had been earning quite a lot for herself. She was a common visitor to the bounty shop, and lived in a motel only two buildings down. She had given up on trying to find Tali, although it hurt and she still wanted to see her, if she remained alive. But she shook thoughts of Tali from her mind as she walked back to the building for her credits.

The man smiled as she walked in and gave her a hug, one that got her out of her brutal work self, and back to her old self; her normal self.

The man smiled. “So, is it done?”

Ember smirked. “Has I ever come back here with a contract left uncompleted?”

He smiled warmly and shook his head. “No, you haven't and for that I am grateful. So, dead or alive?”

“Dead,” Ember said casually.

He nodded. “Alright, so you get that five-hundred,”

Ember pulled out her credit chit and handed it to the man, and he transferred the money quickly and painlessly onto the card. “There you go,”

Ember smiled and went to go walk out of the building, and then turned and called, “You better let me know when a new contract will come in!”

“You know I will,” He said, as she smiled and left the building. Under his breath he said, “I always do.”

Ember walked with happy steps down the street, and listened in on the commotion of the city. People were shouting at one another, hovercars were zooming past and the sounds of footsteps never stopped.

She walked past and overheard a conversation between two people that caught her immediate attention. She passed by the corner and stopped in to listen.

“Did you hear about the bounty hunter around here?” The woman asked the other.

“No, I haven't, should I have?”

“Well, the person's all over the news! They say she's a Quarian no less!”

The woman's eyes went wide. “A Quarian bounty hunter? That's a first,”

“I know. People have even given him, or her, a name.”

“What is it?”

The man hesitated for a few moments before speaking. “Oblivion. After the brutal killings she's delivered on her targets,”

“What does he do to them?”

“Well, I'm pretty sure it's a girl. People have only gotten small clips of her on their Omni-Tools, but from what they've seen, it's a female.”

“You didn't answer my question.” The woman groaned.

“Well, she never takes her targets in, and only kills them. And sometimes, she stabs them repeatedly, other times it's just a gunshot, other times it's a mixture of both.”

“Gods, let's hope neither of us get a bounty, eh?”

“Yeah, best to not do anything bad.”

Ember didn't need to hear any more. She walked off and knew for a fact that it was her. But she rather liked the name she had been given, “Oblivion”. It seemed to fit how she treated her targets, which was most likely the reason the name was picked. She made it into her room soon enough, and sighed as she flopped onto the bed and removed her weapons. She shut her eyes and tried to get some sleep, as she thought about her new name.

She awoke slowly, noise being heard from all around. She got up and looked around the room, and sighed; it hadn't been robbed like times before. She grabbed her guns and slid them into their usual places before stepping outside and locking the door to her small, yet livable, apartment.

She repeated her new name over and over in her mind, liking it more each time she said it. Once she had walked into the bounty shop, she was loving it. It fit her well, and she decided not to change it, but embrace it.

“How are you?” The man behind the counter asked.

Ember smiled at him through her visor. “Great! I just found out that the people of this city have given me a new name!”

“Oh, and what name is that?” The said his next question.

“Oblivion,” Ember said proudly.

He nodded. “A fitting name,”

“The rest of the people thought so too,” Ember claimed.

“Well Oblivion, I have another contract for you,”

“You do?”

He nodded. “Yes, I need you to track down this man,” He said as he slid a datapad across the counter. “As you can see, Salarian. Wanted for smuggling drugs and theft. He can also be killed, in which you get the same amount of money, but he's leaving to the Citadel today, so best kill him quick.”

Ember nodded and took the datapad. “I'll see you soon I guess. If not, then I'll send you a message like usual.”

He nodded and moved his hand towards the door.

“Right, no time to waste. See you,” She chimed as she ran out the door.

She knew the city much better than before, when she had just freed herself from slavery, but that didn't matter much. The streets were packed, and it was quite difficult for Ember to make her way through it. She bumped into numerous people who called out, “Suit rat!” or another Quarian insult. She knew most of them by then, but she paid the insult no mind. She had her own insults she used, and they actually had an affect.

The station was quite clear, despite the rush of the streets of Omega. Ember finally made her way into it and sighed, before walking over and purchasing a ticket. There was only one Salarian who was at the station, and he was just boarding the ship. Ember decided it would be best to wait until the ship stopped at the Citadel before she killed him. It would be too easy to pin the murder on her if she killed him aboard the ship. She got onto the ship and prepared herself for a long space ride.

* * * * *

Ember practically sprinted out of the ship and got onto the Citadel. It was too long she had been kept in that dreaded ship, and she would need to make a trip back as well, which she really didn't want to go on. But she would, like she had before. This wasn't her first time to the Citadel, but the city still was really unknown to her. But she had a mission, and could sight-see afterwards. This was too important for her to give up.

The Salarian had made it out, with his suitcase and Ember smiled deviously. She had planted a chip during the flight, and hooked it up to her Omni-Tool. She would be able to find where he put down his stuff, and get him there. She walked through the station just fine, and then went through some of the wards. It seemed good enough, she found a place to stay and a nice restaurant that was affordable for her.

She was walking back to the house where the Salarian had set down his stuff, when she bumped into one of the guards of the Citadel. She remembered who they were, C-Sec they called themselves. The man was a Turian and stood taller than Ember could have ever hoped of being. His mandibles twitched, before he spoke. “Sorry about that,”

Ember stood there, a little dumbfounded. “Yeah, sorry,” She said as she was going to walk off, until she blurted out, “You seem nicer than most of the other C-Sec here,”

“Yeah, well if you want people to respect your organization, you have to be nice.” He said in a voice that Ember, admittedly, found a little attractive.

“That is true,” Ember said.

“What happened to your arm?” The Turian asked.

She held it up and cringed a little. “Explosion. Had to get my arm replaced.”

The Turian winced, and his mandibles twitched again. “It doesn't look like a traditional robotic arm though,”

Ember nodded. “It isn't... It's a Geth one,”

The Turian's eyes went wide. “You mean the robotic race that nearly killed yours?”

“That we created.” Ember finished off. “Yes, the very same. We had to make due with what we had, and this was all we had.”

“Damn,” He said.

Ember was going to walk off, until the Turian kept the conversation going. “Got a name?”

“I do, but I'd like to hear yours first,” Ember smirked.

The Turian smiled and chuckled a little. “Garrus Vakarian,”

“Ember'Xaelas nar Rayya,” Ember replied.

He dipped his head. “It's nice to meet you. Say... I know of a nice restaurant that serves some great drinks, want to meet me there some time?”

Ember was taken aback by his words. She had never actually been on a date before, and she didn't count her times walking around the park with Tali. “Sure,”

Garrus chuckled again. “I'm going to need a place to meet you,”

“How about here, tomorrow at the shift switch?” Ember suggested.

He nodded. “Sounds good,”

Ember smiled, as well as Garrus, and Ember walked off. She didn't know why, but she was sweating furiously. She wished she could wipe away the sweat like other races, instead she opened her Omni-Tool and activated the Clean-Pro application. It worked like a charm, and she hoped she wouldn't have to use it again any time soon.

She found the house soon enough, and made her way inside. The Salarian was inside, watching some of the news, and Ember made her way over to where he was sitting. She pulled out the knife from her boot and held it tightly in her palm. He was completely unaware that Ember was even in the house, and she loved it. The feeling of not being known that you're there was like something straight out of the video games she used to play in her childhood.

She paused for a moment, just above the Salarian and then rammed the knife deep into his throat and into the couch he was sitting on. He gasped, and gargled as his life dripped away and he sat helpless to stop it. She pulled the knife out and wiped it off before putting it back in her sheath and tossing the keycard on the ground. It had no more use to her.

She made it back to her place soon enough, and set down her gear like before. She was surprised that she was able to use a Terminus System licence of holding firearms on the Citadel, but she shrugged and tried to not let it bother her. What was bothering her, was her date with the C-Sec officer, Garrus. She went through scenario after scenario of her messing up the entire date, and not being to experience another. She braced herself for the time tomorrow and hoped it would be fine.

* * * * *

She was standing at the spot where she was going to meet Garrus, and he hadn't arrived. She checked her clock on her Omni-Tool once more to see if it was the correct time, which it was, and then flicked it off and huffed. But she tried not to be too hard on the guy, she didn't know much about dates, but usually they were never on time. She did her best to remember this instead of her impatience get the better of her.

He showed up only a few minutes later, and asked, “How long have you been waiting?”

Ember flicked on her Omni-Tool once more and said, “Seven minutes,” as she turned it off again.

“Well, at least you didn't wait too long. Come, let's go,”

He was wearing some really casual clothes, and as well as Ember, or as casual you could get for a large rubber suit. They walked off and Ember was honestly quite glad that she was going through with the date. It was time for her to move on from Tali, she was either dead or long gone and she didn't know which it was. But she knew that she wanted someone else, if not her; and Garrus seemed like he would do.

“This is it,” Garrus said, as he held the door open for a few people, and then Ember herself.

“Thanks,” Ember said as she walked through the door.

Garrus nodded and stepped in just behind her and guided her off to one of the free tables by the window. It was a gorgeous view, the likes of which Ember had never seen. Various lights and ships flew past and Ember just watched awestruck by the sight.

“Can I get anything for you?” The waiter asked.

“Yes, I'll have your best Palaven, or Palaven-inspired, dish,” Garrus said.

The waiter nodded and wrote it down and then looked at Ember. “I'll have the same,”

He nodded once more and then asked his second question. “Anything to drink?”

“Palaven brandy would be nice,”

“I'll go with a wine,”

The waiter smiled, nodded a third time and then walked off.

“I hope our food gets here soon, I'm pretty hungry.” Garrus chuckled.

Ember smiled. “As am I, and it'll be nice to have some proper food,”

“But don't you need it in a paste?” Garrus asked.

“Yes, but it won't be some nasty and boring paste to eat. It'll be real food,”

Garrus nodded. “I hope you enjoy it then, I personally love the food,”

Ember smirked. “I'm sure it's better than what they serve on the Migrant Fleet,”

“Not that good?” Garrus asked.

“No, it's quite the opposite of good. It's a bland paste that is normally served, and on rare occasions you get one with flavour,”

“Sounds pretty bad,”

“It is,” Ember confirmed.

They ate and chat for a while afterwards and talked about various things. They had soon decided to kick things off with keeping in touch with one another, and plan another date. Ember agreed easily enough. When the final course was being served, three humans walked up to Ember wearing strange uniforms, but she recognized them soon enough. They belonged to the Alliance.

“Are you Oblivion?” One of the humans asked.

Ember looked over to Garrus and then nodded and said, “I am,”

“We're with the Alliance and-” One attempted to speak before the one in the middle cut in.

“We need to speak with you. Alone.”


	5. To Akuze!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ember finds herself on a journey to Akuze. She thinks it'll be an easy thing to deal with, but is it really?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for a little delay with this chapter, I hope it was a one time thing, but this chapter was longer than expected.

Ember looked over to Garrus, who's mandibles twitched again. She nodded once and stood up and walked with the three soldiers to the other end of the restaurant. They stopped and turned around and waited for Ember to begin asking questions. She looked back to Garrus who was fiddling around with his drink that otherwise remained untouched and then back to the soldiers.

“Why do you want me?” Ember spoke her first question.

They looked at one another and nodded, and the one in the middle spoke. “We're in need of some people for a rescue mission on a planet. A colony has gone dark and we need people like you to be with us when we go.”

“How do you know who I am?” Ember said her second question.

“We found out through the news, and then a man on Omega. Says you're the best bounty hunter he's ever witnessed.”

Ember nodded slowly. “What planet are we going to?”

“Akuze,” One of the soldiers said cheerfully.

Ember thought about it. Was she willing to go to some planet to help a race that had done nothing for her? She didn't exactly have all the time in the universe to go play 'rescue' with these soldiers. But what was the worst that could happen? Not like she would have to deal with anything more than bandits, slavers or loose mechs... right?

“Will I get paid?” Ember said her fourth question.

The men nodded simultaneously. “Yes, a good amount too. But you will need to come with us and solve the Akuze problem before that bunch of credits gets put on your chit.”

Ember nodded and asked her second-to-last question. “When do we leave?”

“Tomorrow, we will expect you at guard shift.” The Alliance soldier said. “We aren't leaving without you, so you best get there on time.”

“I make no promises,” Ember said. “Where will I be meeting you?”

The soldiers thought about it for only a moment before speaking. “How about the C-Sec headquarters on the presidium?”

Ember nodded. “Alright, I'll see you then,”

The soldiers smiled and said, “Thank you ma'am,” before walking out the door.

Ember breathed a sigh of relief and walked back to Garrus, who was beginning to drink his brandy. “What was that about?” He asked.

“Alliance soldiers want me to head off to some colony that went dark.” Ember answered simply.

“Which colony?” Garrus asked, as Ember sat back down and grabbed her wine.

“Akuze,” Ember answered between sips through her straw.

Garrus shrugged. “Never heard of it,”

“Neither have I,” Ember answered. “I hope it's nothing bad I have to deal with,”

“It shouldn't be,” Garrus said, looking out the window to the rest of the Citadel.

Ember smiled, but thought back to her first time on a human colony. It had been the time she had been forced into slavery and had to do some things she really didn't want to do. But she tried to remain positive, and she knew that she was stronger. She would not fall to slavers once again. She would not have to live through repairing things for food, either.

Garrus interrupted her thoughts and snapped her back into reality. “Well, the food's coming over,”

Ember turned her head to see a waitress walk over and placed down the two dishes. She smiled and walked off without a word. They enjoyed their meal in silence for the most part, and spoke little to one another before the time ended, and Ember knew that if she was to go on a journey to the colony, she would have a long rest for the coming days, or weeks on the ship she would be on. But her time with Garrus had come to an end for a time, and she sighed as they walked to the doors.

“I had a good night, Garrus,” Ember said as they stood outside. “I'm willing to have another when I return,”

Garrus grabbed Ember's hands and held them in his own. He did his best at a smile, and said, “I'll be sure to message you soon, but after you're off,”

“So, that means I'll be messaging you first?” Ember said.

Garrus chuckled and nodded. “It seems so. Now go on, you have a busy day tomorrow,”

Ember smiled and walked off, not looking behind her at all. She made it to her apartment quite soon, and found that the place was still like it had always been. Too many nights on Omega can get one paranoid with someone breaking in; it had happened too many times to Ember. She laid on her bed and did her best to fall asleep, and it helped to know that it was nothing too dangerous on Akuze...

She awoke slowly, and looked out the window, missing the sunsets and sunrises she used to see back on the colony she lived on. But she would see another one soon, on the colony she was going to with the Alliance. She was both nervous, and excited. She always jumped at the chance to kill another slaver, after they caused her so much harm.

She nearly leaped out of bed and got on her weapons and made her way to the door. She thought back on Garrus, and how he would be the next date they went on. She didn't want to fully admit it, but she was actually beginning to like Garrus quite a bit. It didn't help that she always used to watch Turian and Quarian love stories with Tali. Tali... She had gone out with Garrus because of her, killed because she had nowhere else to place her anger, but she still loved her. And she would never see her again.

She angrily shook the thoughts out of her head; it was too early a day for it to be ruined by memories. She continued on, ignoring the glares and wary looks that other people on the streets gave her. She had gotten used to it, but it didn't make it any more unfortunate. Her entire race was looked down upon for making the Geth, and losing the war with them. Then she thought of her pilgrimage. She was still going through it, and she had more than enough credits to help the fleet out; but it wasn't enough. She needed to do something special, and she wouldn't stop until she did.

She walked onto the elevator and ignored the looks others gave her, just like before. Someone hit the down button, and it descended at a 'snail's pace'. It was one of the metaphors she had picked up from Carter, months back on the colony. Her heart longed to return, and see it alive and prosperous like it had been months before. But those days would never return.

She got out of the elevator and looked around for the Alliance soldiers, and there they were, standing in their standard uniforms and giving Ember a friendly wave. She nodded once and strode over to them and waited for one of them to begin speaking.

“Ah, good to see you Oblivion!” One of the soldiers said, his smile looking as genuine as possible. “I'm glad you made it, somewhat, on time like we had discussed! Come, we have a colony to get to.”

Ember loaded onto the Alliance ship and was shocked to find that there were no other aliens on board. “Why are there only humans, besides me, on this ship? Didn't you hire other mercenaries as well?”

The Alliance soldiers shook their heads. “We were assured that if we got you on our mission, then we don't need any others.”

Ember smiled at the compliment, and nodded before making her way to one of the empty rooms on the second floor. It was mostly bare, save a single sleeping pod and a cot in the far corners of the room. She shuddered, and the wide open window that could look to space reminded her of her time as a slave once more. She hated those memories, but she couldn't get rid of them, even if she had the option to. They were hers, and it was just one more thing that made her strong.

Days and weeks rolled into one another and they seemed to be no closer to the colony than before. She had kept in touch with Garrus and it was the only thing that gave her a sense of which day it was. But the people were nice, if a bit intimidated by Ember, but she liked it. It was nice to know that she was now feared among some of the people of the galaxy. She certainly wasn't feared nearly as much a year ago.

It had been an entire year since Ember had left the fleet, and she was enjoying it for the most part. It was nice to begin with, then she had to suffer through a rough patch, and then it got better once again. She had always been told that life would get better if you stick through the bad, but she didn't fully believe it until that moment.

Finally, it was time to land on the colony of Akuze, a colony she still knew nothing about. All the soldiers lined up, and the two favourites of hers, Ramaerez and Jacqueline, were with her. One in front of her and one behind. Jacqueline laid a calming hand on Ember and whispered, “Don't worry, we'll be fine,”

Ember wished she could have believed her.

They sat in silence as the shuttle descended down to the planet, but when Ember looked outside, all she could see was sand. Lots of it; an entire desert which seemed to stretch half the planet. Her thoughts were interrupted very abruptly by the pilot, who seemed to be having some difficulty flying as the shuttle began moving a lot more than Ember thought it should.

“Shit! I see them! They're pissed off now, guys! I'm going to try and make it to the colony, let's hope we can miss them!” The pilot yelled out, and the group simultaneously shouted, “Heard!”

Ember looked outside once more to see giant... worms? She blinked twice, and then checked to make sure her visor wasn't doing anything with the image, and it wasn't. Those were legitimate, huge, sand worms. “”Keelah...” Ember whispered under hear breath. Ember kept looking out to the sea of sand with the worms and one stood as tall as it could, and threw something from its throat at the ship. Only moments later, a large splat could be heard and the pilot shouting and the alarm blaring.

“Warning, engines critical! Warning, engines critical!” The alarm system droned.

“Shit, we've been hit! Prepare for a rough landing people!” The pilot yelled out as Ember saw the ship plummet to the ground and everything cut to black.

She awoke her eyes disorientated and her head pounding. She remembered giant sand worms, and then everything else began to drift back in. She was trapped in the ship and she pushed what rubble and wreckage of the ship was on her, off. A foul stench could be smelled, and she saw the pilot with the sand half-burying his face; he was dead.

Ember whispered a small prayer and rammed the door open, falling with it as it fell outwards, completely ripped off from the ship. As soon as she made it out, gunfire was heard and she glanced around to see her squadmates firing at one of the massive worms. They looked big while up in the air on the shuttle, but then they looked like something out of a nightmare, where she had been shrunk.

“Hey, you _are_ alive!” Ramaerez shouted, and Jacqueline could be heard cheering in the background as she fired off shots into the beast.

“As alive as I'll ever be!” Ember shouted back as she immediately grabbed her sniper rifle on her back. She began unloading shots into the beast as fast as she could.

The beast roared and moved with haste that shocked Ember, it being huge didn't limit its mobility. It fired something from its mouth and it hit one of the soldiers. He dropped his gun and began screaming in pain as the acid that had landed on him began eating through his flesh and destroying bone. His screams of agony died out not long after.

The beast went underground and then emerged and ate another one of the soldiers. There were only five alliance members left, and the total was eight to begin with. It launched more acid, but Ramaerez and Ember rolled out of the way and just barely missed it. Ember felt her gun nearly overheat, and she popped in another thermal clip. The worm just didn't want, or seem to die though. It took bullet after bullet and it seemed like nothing was going to kill it.

Soldier after soldier died off, and soon there was only one more member, and Ramaerez and Jacqueline left. The one soldier that Ember hadn't bothered to learn his name, threw one of the grenades he had and the worm went up and swallowed it, and nearly him along with it. It went back underground, and just as it surfaced, the grenade went off. The beast screeched and writhed as the grenade had decimated the creature's insides. With one final move, it fell to the sand and crushed the soldier who had caused its own demise.

Ember, and her friends fell to the ground panting from the exertion of fighting the giant sand worm.

“Keelah... What was that thing?” Ember said through pants.

Ramaerez also panted through his answer. “Thresher maws. Nasty creatures that show up on many different planets. I didn't know the planet had them though,”

“You think the colony is fine?” Jacqueline asked.

Ramaerez shook his head. “I doubt it, if a maw could kill six Alliance marines, they could easily kill an entire colony.”

“They?” Ember said, exhaustion clearly visible.

“Where there's one, there's more,” Ramaerez said darkly.

Jacqueline raised her hands up and did her best with sarcasm at that moment. “Great! One nearly killed all of us, and there's more out there most likely just as pissed as that one,” She said, pointing to the slain thresher maw.

“Well, there's no way for us to make it off this rock until we make it to the colony. There's a shuttle we can use to make it out of here, and before you ask; yes, I do fly.”

Jacqueline and Ember both breathed sighs of relief in unison.

He chuckled and folded up his rifle and slung it on his back before putting one foot in front of the other in the Sea of Maws. Ember looked over to one of the soldiers and walked over to him, as something caught her eye. A weapon which looked like it could do some serious damage laid on the ground beside him untouched, unlike himself. She hoisted up the weapon and ran off in the direction of Ramaerez and presented it to him. “I think this can do some damage to any more Maws we encounter, and I think you should be the one to kill it.”

He smiled and took it graciously. “Thanks, this might actually give us three a _chance_ if we run across another.”

The ground shifted under their feet as they moved, and Ember became more and more worried that a Maw would just swoop up and eat her whole at any moment. She couldn't believe she had been foolish enough to think that there wouldn't be anything too dangerous. She shook her head, shaming herself for her belief in something that was completely false.

Night was coming by the time they finally settled down. It had been rough for Ember to make it through the day, as more and more memories of the massacre on the colony she had lived at came back to her more and more often. A small fire was made out of a long-lasting substance in the middle of the sands, but Ember didn't go too close to it, while the others huddled around it. She was on top of the sand dune, watching the skies as stars began to appear as the blue turned darker and darker into black.

“Should I say something to her?” Ember heard Jacqueline say.

Ember looked over to see Ramaerez shake his head before looking back. “No, she's been through a lot today, and in the past. She doesn't like to delve into it, and it's understandable with what she's been through.”

Ember smiled softly. She had always liked Ramaerez; he was more accepting and friendly than anyone else was with her presence aboard the ship to Akuze.

“Mind if you tell me what happened?” Jacqueline asked.

“I will not.” Ramaerez said firmly. “I gave her my word, and it is not something I break easily. Even to you.”

“Then I guess I'll have to ask her myself?” Jacqueline said her next question.

Ramaerez looked to Ember and nodded. “But it would be best to do it during a good time, like when she is willing.”

Jacqueline nodded and called out, “Good night,” to Ember, thinking that she wasn't listening before.

“Good night,” Ember called back.

Ember kept her eyes on the stars as long as she could before the next day fell upon them all, which had more walking.

Ember awoke slowly, to Ramaerez already awake and attempting to cook something over the fire. He looked over to Ember and smiled warmly. “Good morning. You ready for another day?”

Ember nodded. “As ready as I'll ever be.”

“Good, just getting something for Jac and I, I hope you have rations on you?”

Ember nodded again and delved into her pockets for proof. She pulled out a few long tubes that were filled with the plain muck she used to eat on the Fleet.

Ramaerez sighed. “Great. I don't think it would be best for you to go hungry, fight or not.”

Ember sat down beside him and picked up her weapons before placing them on her back.

“How much did you hear last night?” Ramaerez asked after a long silence.

Ember looked into his deep brown eyes. “Enough.”

“Will you tell her what happened on the colony, and afterwards?” Ramaerez asked, pointing over to Jacqueline and letting his hand go back to cooking.

“If she asks, I guess I will. Not what happened after the colony though,”

“Any reason?” Ramaerez said, looking up towards the sky to check the time of day.

Ember bit her lip. “I'm not willing to retell what happened afterwards right now, maybe when we make it back to the ship.”

Ramaerez nodded in understanding.

Jacqueline shuffled a bit and then rolled over and opened her eyes to see Ember and Ramaerez already awake. “How long have you two been up?” She mumbled as she attempted to sit upright, but ultimately failing and flopping back against the sand.

“He's been up for a while, but only a few minutes for me.” Ember answered as Jacqueline made another attempt to sit upright, and this time completing.

She nodded and looked to Ramaerez who was still slowly cooking something over the open flames. “What are you cooking?”

“Some canned food, or at least attempting to.”

“Why not use an HRE?”

“We only have a few left, and those are needed for more important times, like while walking.”

She nodded in understanding.

Soon the group was walking once more, and Ember wished she was more used to it. Her legs were already aching, and her programs on her suit only did so much. The rumbling under their feet never stopped, and seemed to only increase. She was more and more paranoid something would just kill them all before they even drew their weapons to face the creature, but they never did.

“So, what happened to you?” Jacqueline asked after a long time of walking in silence.

“What do you mean?” Ember answered.

“I mean like, what memories are disturbing you, after the death of our squad?”

Ember bit her lip and then told what little of her tale she wanted to share. “It was back a little over, or under, a year ago. I was living on a human colony with my partner, another Quarian, when slavers attacked. They got me, killed the entire colony, and maybe even killed her. But I haven't been able to find my partner ever since that event.”

“Oh, I'm very sorry to hear that.” Jacqueline said, her voice completely genuine. “What happened afterwards though, after you were captured by the slavers?”

“That part of my story I do not wish to share.” Ember said firmly, but calmly with no hint of anger in her voice.

Jacqueline nodded and respected that and didn't bring it up for the rest of the day. The next one was the same, it passed with the three person squad gaining more ground to the colony every minute. Ember shuddered every time she felt a rumble from underneath her feet. She hated it that those monsters were down there, and they were nearly defenceless until they noticed what was going on. She quickened her pace though, and was soon in front of the others by the end of the day.

But, one more rumble kept on going. The entire group stopped and pulled out their weapons, seeing if one of the monsters would emerge. One did and nearly killed Ramaerez, but he rolled out of the way just in time. The beast shot up from the ground and reached for the sky, before stopping and looking at the squad who was firing upon it. Ramaerez fired his rockets, and Jacqueline firing her assault rifle, with Ember shooting her sniper into the beast.

The creature fired acid, and Ember just barely avoided being dissolved and sent to a very painful death. Jacqueline wasn't as lucky. One huge glob of acid emerged from the Maw's mouth and it landed on Jacqueline nearly completely covering her. The screams only lasted for a few seconds, before Jacqueline went silent and fell to the ground, with most of her already gone.

“Shit! Jacqueline down!” Ramaerez shouted, as he kept on firing into the beast.

Ember screamed, as a rage built inside her once more. It made the trigger on her rifle go faster, and her reloads nearly in the blink of an eye. The beast noticed this, and went underground and then emerged right under her. She screamed in worry, and the beast's jaws just barely missed her, but she fell a height a bit too far and landed on the ground. She opened her eyes quickly, and glanced around. The fight wasn't over. She grabbed her rifle and ignored the pain that mercilessly clawed and ripped at her leg and arm.

She fired and fired until her finger hurt, and kept firing on the Thresher Maw. Finally, it fell to the ground with a defeated thump and made the entire ground shake. Ramaerez rushed over to Ember as she looked down and gasped at her left arm and leg. What armour she had was ripped off and flesh and blue skin showed itself clearly. Ramaerez swore under his breath over and over as he frantically searched for what he wanted to find. Finally he got it and ripped open the bag and poured the substance onto Ember's arm; Medi-Gel.

Finally when it was all on, he took in a deep breath and began to calm himself. Ember was still in shock from the whole event. She had lost her friend and nearly herself in one fight. Ramaerez seemed to be fine, but he was coughing a bit too much for her not to be concerned.

“You alright? You're coughing a lot more than normal.” Ember said, her voice bursting at the seams with worry.

Ramaerez waved it away. “I'll be fine. Happens when I go through a massive exertion.”

“Let's just rest here for a while before continuing on, alright?” Ember said, panting like a Varren.

The two people left looked to their fallen companion and felt the sorrow building in them. They continued on quickly though, and had done their best for a burial for Jacqueline, but it was difficult since she was still covered in acid from the Maw. They had just buried her with sand in the infinite desert, and continued on their way.

Only a few hours later the colony was in sight. Ember's arm and leg still ached and she was limping a ways behind Ramaerez. He stopped suddenly, and looked to Ember with sorrow. “Well, I want you to know that I enjoyed our time together. Prepare for a fight!” He shouted as another Thresher Maw burst out of the sand just next to him.

He flew back and Ember hurriedly pulled out her rifle and began shooting. She did her best to aim for the monster's mouth when she could and acid was not flying in her direction. Ramaerez was also unloading shots, both from his rocket launcher, and when he ran out of ammo, his rifle. They shot round after round at the beast and avoided the creature's jaws many times. But Ramaerez didn't make one, and Ember watched as he was dragged under with the beast as he made one final cry that would haunt her forever.

She ran and waited for the Thresher to emerge once more, and threw the single grenade she had picked off one of the soldiers. She had just remembered that she had it only earlier that day, while Jacqueline was being buried. It flew through the air and it seemed almost like it was slow motion as it went into the Thresher's mouth. The beast stood up tall once more, and was just about to fire another acid blob before the grenade went off.

Chunks of the dead beast's head rained down onto the sand as well as blood. Ember didn't get much land on her, but some managed to and she shivered in disgust. She looked around in the middle of the desert and came to realize that once again, but more literally, she was alone. Completely alone...

She made it to the colony and walked to the signal tower, which was amazingly still intact. She contacted the ship to send down another shuttle to the planet, or anything as she walked over to the shuttle beside the tower. She waited and waited before her response was sent. A shuttle emerged from the layer of clouds in the sky and landed on one of the empty pads. Soldiers emerged and shouted to one another and one pointed at Ember and they began rushing forth.

“Keelah...” Ember mumble as she fell to her knees. “They made it...” She finally let her conscious slip and fade as she fell into the sand.


	6. A New Candidate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ember made it off Akuze alright, and the wounds don't cut too deep, and then she goes on another date with Garrus, the person she thinks can finally replace Tali.  
> Tali has had it rough for the last few months since Ember's disappearance. But she's on Omega and maybe has a lead to find her illusive lover.  
> The council are picking more candidates for another Spectre, and one person seems to be there by accident.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter came out later than I thought it would. I had to think over multiple times on how this chapter would go down, and now I'm finally happy with how it turned out.  
> I hope you are too.

“We have to get her back to the ship, as soon as possible!” One of the marines shouted as they picked Ember up and hauled her off to the shuttle.

“Jesus, she's been through a lot.” One of the marines mumbled.

“How can you tell?” Another asked.

“Well look,” The marine said, pointing to various parts of Ember as he stated the damage. “A cracked visor, ripped suit, damaged arm and leg... She's been through hell.”

“I guess that's why they call her Oblivion,” One said.

“I think it's for another reason, James.”

The marine, James, huffed and eased himself into a more comfortable position.

They made it to the ship soon enough and immediately rushed her down to the medbay to be healed. They got her down onto one of the beds and stepped back as the doctor strode over and began to see the damage done to Ember. She winced and kept her eye on Ember's damaged leg and arm. Her other arm, which was made in an unusual style that the doctor didn't recognize, was even more still than the rest of her.

The marines began to funnel out of the medbay to leave the doctor to work, as they learned that he needed complete silence and to be alone to fully work. It was just one of the quirks the doctor had, but not many people seemed to mind when they had a bullet in their arm. The doctor chuckled and rolled his eyes at how many times he had to do that. He pulled out his operating tools and set to work.

Later, he sent an email off to the captain of the ship to signal for a stop on one of the cities. He agreed to do it soon enough. They did so and they acquired the suit for Ember and the doctor did his best to put it on. Only a few minutes of struggling later, it was on and he breathed in deeply and sighed before sitting back down at his computer station and awaited for Ember to wake up.

She did so reluctantly, hours later. Ember opened her eyes and stared up at the metal ceiling and did her best to remember what had transpired. She had made it to Akuze, lived through three Thresher Maw attacks, and then made it to the colony as the only survivor and got rescued by Alliance marines. Then it all went blank and she found herself staring at the metal plates that held the ship together.

She tried to sit up but pain wracked her body and disabled her movements with a groan escaping Ember's lips.

The doctor sighed, rose from his chair and then strode over to Ember on the cot. “Good to see you awake, and alive,” He said cheerfully.

Ember painfully shifted her head to look at the doctor completely. “What happened after I blanked on Akuze?”

“You'll have to ask one of the marines what happened. I know nothing more than when you got in here.”

“How long have I been out for?” Ember said, her voice still dry and hoarse.

“About a week,” The doctor replied simply.

If Ember could've laid back down again, she would. Instead her gaze returned to the large metal plate above her head, as she spoke. “Was it really that bad?”

“You tell me,” The doctor replied as he walked back over to his terminal and began typing. “How did your arm and leg feel after both were severely damaged?”

“Ugh, more pain was involved in that than I'd like to be reminded of.” Ember groaned, as she went through another, unsuccessful, attempt at sitting up.

“You might want to remain laying down for a few hours or so.” The doctor advised as his eyes were on his screen as his fingers flew across the keyboard. “As much as your mind wants to move, your body doesn't. Give it some time to agree,”

Ember huffed and folded her arms across her chest. At she was able to do that. She looked to her arm and gasped a little. It was completely covered in another suit, one that was of blue and black that swirled its way down her body. She looked over to her right and saw her old, green and black suit hung up on one of the ridges to keep the two slates of metal together. One of the legs was almost entirely gone, and a long tube that ended in a destroyed glove hung beside the rest of the suit.

Ember cleared her throat and then spoke. “How long until my suit is repaired?”

“Hopefully not too long,” The doctor said, rolling around on his chair away from his computer to look at Ember. “When we make our stop at the Alliance base, we are going to attempt to have it repaired.”

Ember smiled at hearing this. “Thank you,”

“Your welcome,” The doctor said. “And you know, we have to fix it...”

Ember did her best to look over to him, but was stuck on the cot with a confused look on her face until the doctor's next words changed it to a smile.

“You look better in green,”

* * * * *

Ember stepped off the ship when it docked on the Citadel. It was nice to be on solid ground for once, or on something large enough to be considered solid ground. She opened up her Omni-Tool and opened up her messages, and then scrolled until she found Garrus.

_Hey, I'm off that Alliance ship. Come meet me over at that restaurant you took me to, I know you know where that is. I'll see you then. ~Ember_

She sent of the text and sighed before doing her best to remember where the restaurant was. Her memory of its location was a little fuzzy after four months of being out in space, and what horrors happened on Akuze. She shook those memories out of her mind as soon as she could, but not before she resolved that colonies were a bad place to be. She only hoped she wouldn't have to stop by too many more over her life.

Finally, she found the restaurant and walked inside. Nobody looked her way, or seemed to care about her presence, which she was happy about. At least Quarians weren't kicked out of some restaurants. She looked around and found Garrus sitting at one of the tables and he waved her over. She strode over and sat down on the opposite side of the table and waited for Garrus to begin speaking.

“So, why contact me?” Garrus asked kindly.

“Well, you're literally the only person I know on the Citadel by name.” Ember said.

“Right, well what happened while you were on Akive, or Akoze, or whatever that colony was called?”

Ember's face went dead serious. “Akuze,” She corrected, rage underlining the name.

Garrus' mandibles twitched like they normally did. “Ok, what happened on Akuze?”

“Well, I have a story for _you_!” Ember said a little louder than before as she plunged into her time on Akuze.

* * * * *

She stretched and yawned loudly, her night in the motel wasn't nearly as comfortable as she thought it would be. It had been six months since Ember had disappeared and Tali was still searching for her. She had gone through a portion of the Citadel, Illium and now this place. Tali sighed and sat up, walking over to the window to look out longingly, wishing that she could just see Ember walking the streets and to be able to run up and hug her.

She may have disappeared, but she was not gone. Tali knew this for a fact, but the smallest voice in her mind was saying otherwise. She shook that thought, and the voice away. No, Ember was out there somewhere. But where was the problem. Tali hoped she was alright, the pain of losing Ember was still fresh. She snatched her keycard and closed the door and locked it, before walking through the streets like she usually did to find her.

She passed by several Quarians, but none of them were Ember. She wore a light green suit, complimented with swirls of black across her. None of the Quarians she passed by had the suit she was searching for. She walked along until a small news feed with a few people gathered around it caught her attention. It was talking about something unimportant until it switched to something that made Tali worry, and be excited.

“Gang wars on Omega? A very true and real thing. One of the most recent outbursts of one of the gangs was of an old building in the Sky district being caught on fire, and all people within it killed. Or, most people; it is believed a few people escaped. These people are one Quarian and one Batarian, but their names are unknown.”

The screen flashed and showed a picture of both the Quarian and Batarian. The Batarian was unknown to Tali, but the Quarian looked familiar. She wore a green suit just like Ember, but the picture didn't get her face which was a disappointment to Tali. The news changed to something about someone being murdered, and Tali groaned and walked off, wishing that she could find Ember as soon as she possibly could.

But she had a potential lead. The Sky district could be entered by walking for a about an hour, where she could possibly find more information on the Quarian that may or may not be Ember.

Tali sighed and walked over to the main room where most ships entered the city with a few benches and sat down on one of them. The people of the Sky district didn't have anything of use. The Quarian had never said her name to anyone, and nearly killed the Batarian for some reason and then walked off into Omega and that was where the trail ended. The Quarian could've been someone else entirely, and she couldn't even know if it was true or false.

She looked over, her eyes scanning the people walking by for her lost lover. Again, she saw nobody bearing any resemblance. She sighed sadly and stood up and walked off in the direction of one place she had grown used to. It had a motel and a bounty hunter shop right next to it. Tali knew Ember wouldn't be in there for a million years. Ember never was, or would be a killer. She couldn't do it, and Tali knew this. She rented a room and stayed night after night at that motel for however long it took for the lead to go off to another city and out of the cesspool of Omega.

Tali opened up the windows of her motel room she had been staying at for a few months. It was from one motel to the next, until she found this one. She wished that by chance that she would see Ember out the window or something, and she blinked and blinked again. Walking through the crowds was a Quarian in bright green clothing. Tali doubted that it would be Ember, but she didn't want to take the chance and never know. She ran out the door and locked it faster than most people could see and sprinted down the stairs to get to the mysterious Quarian.

Her heart pounded and hammered in her chest as she ran through the crowds in the direction she had seen the Quarian. She ducked and passed by many people in the dense crowds as she made it closer and closer to where she had seen the Quarian. But she stopped when she had a good look at her. She was walking into the space port, with multiple guns strapped to various parts of her. Her walk was of what she remembered Ember's to be, but not the arm. It was of a material and design she had seen too much in history class; Geth.

She walked confidently through the few people in the port and boarded the ship as it said “Citadel” on the entrance. So that was where she would go. When she finally saved up enough credits, she would go back to the Citadel to find the Quarian who seemed to be like Ember more and more...

* * * * *

“...And then I blacked out as the marines ran over to me.” Ember said, finishing her tale of what happened on Akuze.

Garrus looked shocked for the most part. “Well, I'm glad to see that you're alright.”

Ember nodded and smiled. “I am. But I doubt I'll be heading back to any colonies any time soon.”

“No doubt, after what you lived through, I wouldn't either.”

Ember's smiled faded. “Yeah, through both times on a colony...”

Garrus looked confused. “You're saying you were on a colony twice when something bad happened?”

Ember nodded, memories of what happened on the colony and after flashing into her mind like gunshots.

“Well,” Garrus said, grabbing Ember's hands and holding them in his own. “Mind if you tell me?”

Ember thought about it for a few moments before nodding. “Well, I was just fresh on my pilgrimage, and my... girlfriend and I had just landed on the colony.”

“You had a girlfriend?” Garrus asked, his mandibles twitching, and Ember could see something in his eyes. It looked like worry.

Ember nodded. “I did. But I don't know what happened to her. She's probably completely forgotten about me.”

“Doubtful.” Garrus said, looking at Ember's eyes through her visor. “People rarely forget about those they love.”

Ember smiled softly. “I guess,” as she shook her head and got back into her second story of the evening. “Anyways, I stayed at the colony for a few months before... slavers attacked it. They killed off the entire colony except for a few women, including myself, and took us captive.”

“What kind of slavery was it?” Garrus said, and surprisingly to Ember, rage was beginning to coat his words.

Ember paused for a few moments and then continued. “...Sexual. And they did really bad acts to the women there, even myself. But I didn't have to endure as much as they did.”

“How did you escape slavery?” Garrus asked, his hands still holding Ember's and his eyes still on the woman's in front of her.

“A gang raid. They attacked the hideout where I was, and nearly killed me. A grenade was what blew my arm off, and caused this,” Ember said, moving her Geth arm around a bit. “to be attached to me. After it was put on, I nearly killed my owner for it, but spared his life and walked out of the clinic and into my new life as a bounty hunter on Omega.”

Garrus nodded. “Sounds like you had quite the adventure through your life,”

“More than I wanted, mind you,” Ember said, gently pulling her hands from Garrus' grasp. “I'm not one for adventure in real life. Games are fine though.”

“Right, well I think it's time we should head out of here.” Garrus advised.

Ember nodded in agreement. “Sounds like a plan.”

Just as they made their way out of the place, they both stopped and looked at one another.

“I had fun tonight,” Ember said, and Garrus could faintly see the smile from under her visor.

“I did too.” Garrus said just as he was going to walk off, but stopped. “You know... I don't work tomorrow, and I know you don't have a place to stay... Want to head over to mine?” He suggested.

Ember thought on it for a moment and then nodded. “Ok, I will.”

Garrus smiled and thought to himself words he needed. _Don't mess this up._

They both walked into the small apartment in single file until they were actually inside. Ember walked over to the couch and coffee table and set down her weapons before walking back to the door and taking off her boots. “Well, this place isn't much... But it's home.”

Ember looked around the room and marvelled at the space it had. “More room than any of the places I've stayed in, even on the Migrant Fleet.”

Garrus chuckled and strode over to Ember. “I bet,”

He grabbed Ember's waist pulled her in, causing a small yelp of surprise to emerge from Ember, but no resistance or will to break free. He held her in his embrace, staring down into her eyes and she stared right back, as he lowered his head down to rest it against Ember's cracked visor. Ember did her best to ignore the single crack that cut right down the centre of her visor, and split Garrus' face in two, as she enjoyed the moment.

Garrus released after a time that seemed a bit too short for him, and stood there with a smile on his face. Ember nearly found herself wanting to dive back into his arms but she stayed herself and relaxed onto the couch, while Garrus walked over and sat down beside her. “Want to watch a vid?” He asked.

“Which one?” Ember asked.

“Hm, I was thinking romance...” He said, his hand moving towards the stack of movies he had under the TV.

Ember smirked. “Fine, but don't try anything. I haven't been on any Immuno-Boosters recently.”

Garrus chuckled. “Fine, I won't,”

They sat down and watched the video as Ember snuggled into Garrus' arms and he replied by leaning against her. Ember had fallen asleep on Garrus just as the credits began rolling, and he gently eased himself off of her and laid her down gently and tucked a blanket on her. “See you in the morning,”

Ember awoke to Garrus looking over something on a datapad on the chair just beside the couch facing the TV as well. “Good morning,” He said as he drank from the cup in his hand.

“Morning,” Ember said, sitting up from her position on the couch. “What are you looking over?”

“Information.” Garrus answered. “I've been trying to find evidence on Saren, the best Spectre known, and that he's gone rogue.”

“You really believe that he has?” Ember asked, standing up and walking to the kitchen.

“I do. Some things haven't been right, and I've been allowed to investigate as long as it doesn't eat up too much of my time in C-Sec.”

“Mm, well I hope you do well with that!” Ember called out from the kitchen as she rummaged around for something she could eat, or drink.

“Thanks,” Garrus chuckled from the other side of the apartment. “You know, you can stay for as long as you need, I don't mind. Plus it would be nice to have some company.”

Ember smiled. “Sure. I like the sounds of that,”

 

_A few years later..._

 

Nihlus walked with confident steps into the meeting room, all the members of the council were inside it and he too was going to take part in something very special: the induction of another Spectre.

The others were sitting down in a circle with a large table in the middle of them, and Nihlus seated himself in one of the empty seats. The people sat in silence, and waited for the last few people to get there. One of them, a human who looked like a politician walked in with an already annoyed looking face, and then another Spectre, much like Nihlus himself walked in after.

They sat down in silence as well, until the other human suggested, “Shall we begin?”

The crowd nodded and a few portfolios were pulled out from somewhere and placed on the table.

“Well, one of the most obvious candidates is Alenko. He shows real potential.” One of the people said.

“True, but he's a bit inexperienced. I say we let him work on for another few years or so,” Another claimed.

The crowd nodded and mumbled of agreement could be heard.

The Salarian council member spoke up. “So what about this... Gordon Pettway, is it?”

The human, Nihlus knew him as David Anderson, nodded. “Yes, he's an Earthborn, and is known to be ruthless in combat, but very effective.”

“What about parents?” The Asari council member asked.

Anderson shook his head. “Doesn't have them. He grew up an orphan and learned to fend for himself,”

“That must be the reason he's ruthless,” Nihlus added.

The Turian council member looked around the room and shook his head. “I don't think we're looking for someone like that either,”

The small crowd agreed.

“Right, next we have... Zina Terrel,” Anderson said, laying down another document for people to look at. “She grew up on one of the colonies and followed her parents around the galaxy, and when she came of age she followed in her parent's footsteps and joined the alliance at age seventeen.”

“She sounds like a good candidate, but like Kaidan Alenko, I think we should wait a bit longer...”

Anderson nodded and looked at the next candidate on the list. “Ok, now we have... Caeso Ternis,” Anderson said as he did the same to Caeso's document that he had with Zina's.

“He grew up on Palaven, and he is one of the military. He is in command of a small battle ship and was present during the First Contact war...”

The other human, the politician, looked up and around the people and said, “I don't think that someone in the war is needed as a Spectre.”

Anderson looked around the group who began nodding, even Nihlus, and then nodded himself. “Ok, next we have... Oh, this can't be right...” He said, looking at the name and profile of the next, and last, person on the list.

“What? Show us the name,” The Asari said.

“No, no, I doubt you will agree to it.” Anderson said, shaking his head.

“You'd be surprised.” The Turian council member spoke.

Anderson sighed and set down the document. “Now we have Oblivion. She's been a bounty hunter for many years now, and while not technically part of the Alliance, has done many jobs with them, including... Akuze.”

Everyone's eyes went wide. “You mean the mission that nobody, but her survived from?” One of the other humans, Admiral Hackett, said.

Anderson nodded. “The very same,”

“What about her early life?” Chancellor Udina asked.

“She grew up on the Migrant Fleet, and is currently out on pilgrimage. Not much else is known really,”

“You mean she's a Quarian?” The Salarian asked.

“I do,” Anderson said.

The entire circle, except for Anderson, Hackett and Nihlus laughed.

“You can't possibly believe a _Quarian_ would ever be a Spectre!” The Turian said.

Nihlus sat forwards from his reclined way of sitting and began talking. “Maybe this is the break the Quarians need though,”

The rest of the crowd looked at him in confusion.

“Yes, they created the Geth and got themselves exiled, but what did we do for them? Nothing, besides pay them less and treat them like garbage. Maybe if we let a Quarian be a Spectre, the race can perhaps redeem itself and take back its homeworld.”

“Why would we let a Quarian into the Spectres though?” The Asari asked.

“Why would you let a human?” Nihlus shot back. “We've given humanity a chance, why not give the Quarians one as well?”

The council members looked at one another and nodded.

“You can't possibly be considering this?!” Udina said, standing from his chair and pointing an accusing finger at the council.

“We are, why should we not?” The Salarian asked.

“Because they had their chance! They failed it, and if you give them this one, they'll fail it too!”

“Just remember that we have the power to remove you from your position. Think about that next time you think yelling at us is a wise move.”

Anderson spoke up at this point. “Now you might not want Oblivion to be a Spectre right away, how about we have her go through a test?”

“What kind of test?” The Turian council member asked.

“One on Eden Prime. We see her combat skills, and if she would be willing to serve the council and then we make it final or not.”

The council looked to one another and then nodded. “Okay, but you Nihlus, you will accompany the Quarian since you want to give her a second chance.” The Asari said, no hint of anger or annoyance in her voice.

Nihlus stood and nodded. “I won't let you down.”


	7. Geth in Eden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ember has been sent off to do a task on the planet called Eden Prime along with Nihlus; a Spectre. Though, when they arrive, it isn't just a simple bandit group they're killing. It's something much, much worse...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, it has been a while since last upload. Sorry, but I had to go through this chapter so much and I took a small break. Updates might slow down from here on, but I can't be too certain.

Ember sighed as she awoke, well rested and in a good mood. She looked over and saw what she normally did, Garrus. He was still sleeping as he normally was and Ember sighed again, feeling relaxed that he was still with her. She had gotten into a relationship with him a few years prior, only a few days after her return to the Citadel.

She got up and stretched as she also, normally did. Thoughts of Tali had almost completely drifted from her mind, and now Garrus filled that hole she had within her. Memories of Akuze and the other colony though stayed with her, never leaving. She did her best to shake those memories out of her mind, but couldn't. She walked out of the room with the still-sleeping Garrus and made her way into the main room, or as she knew humans called it 'the living room'.

It struck her as odd that it was called that. Was there any room that you weren't supposed to enter alive? Or perhaps was it that it was the only room that _was_ alive? She shuddered and knocked back those thoughts as well as she attempted to make herself a cup of coffee. It turned out better than she had expected, but not as good as the coffee Garrus made. That stuff was way better.

Ember sat down on the couch and sipped her hot beverage as she looked over old datapads of the work Garrus had gotten on Saren. There was a few things about him working with Geth, a few of his betrayal, but nothing as solid evidence. Ember frowned, knowing that Garrus wouldn't devote so many years to something that wasn't even real. But there was always that one voice in her mind that said otherwise...

Garrus stumbled out of the room soon enough and sighed when he saw her. He looked like he was going to speak but instead made his way over to the machine that Ember had used not long ago to make a cup of coffee. “Can you make me a second cup, please?” Ember spoke at length.

Garrus nodded. “Sure,”

“Something bothering you?” Ember asked.

Garrus sighed and turned around to Ember. “You know how long I've been trying to get something, definitive proof, on Saren and him going rogue. But I can't find anything. I fear that if I don't find something soon, I'm going to be relieved from the case and tasked back to the job I had when you met me.”

Ember looked at him, his eyes cast down in near-defeat. “Well, I know you'll find something. I might even be able to, but I doubt it.”

Garrus chuckled, only a small amount of humour present. “I could only hope.”

Just then, the door knocked. Ember grumbled and was going to get it, but Garrus went off in only a few moments and was at the door just as Ember had sat up. He opened it and looked at the people before him. They were humans, and wearing a symbol that Garrus knew well. The Alliance.

One of the humans smiled and looked up at the tall Turian. “Hello, is Oblivion here? We've been tasked with finding her.”

Garrus looked back to Ember who had her eyes on what was going on from a distance. She hadn't sat back down on the couch, but it looked like she was going to in a few moments. “It's for you,” He called out to her.

Ember sighed and walked off to the door and made her way past Garrus who stood just behind her, most likely a safety measure Ember guessed. “Can I help you?”

The same human who had spoken before talked once more. “Yes, we are with the Alliance and we are requesting that you come down to the C-Sec base and go to the docking area.”

Ember looked over to Garrus. “Can you just handle yourself? I've done enough missions with you as of now. I need a break...”

The Alliance soldier's face went dead serious. “It's not really an option.”

Garrus made his way past Ember and stood in front of her defensively. “What do you mean?”

“The Admiral has requested it,” The Alliance soldier spoke. His voice only wavered a small bit.

“Wait,” Ember said as she made her way past Garrus once again. “You mean that the Admiral, the highest military rank you have, has requested me?”

The soldier nodded.

Ember looked at him for a few moments and bit her lip. Could she really stay? She doubted she could. The pay from them was much better than bounty hunting as well, so she guessed it wouldn't hurt too badly. “Ok, when should I meet you?”

“I say as soon as you can. We have quite the flight ahead of us.”

Ember nodded and said a 'goodbye' and then closed the door. She looked to Garrus who was still behind her, and they made their way into the main room. “So, you're going once again...” Garrus said, his voice full of sorrow.

“I know you don't want me to leave, but what choice do I really have?” Ember said, packing up her things as she ran through the house to see if she had everything.

Garrus nodded. “Just wanted you to be here a little longer, maybe even help in my investigations.”

Ember smiled sadly. “I won't be gone for too long, or at least try to be.”

“I know. But I still don't want you to leave,”

“And I don't want to leave,” Ember said, embracing Garrus as best she could.

Garrus smiled a small bit. “Good,”

Ember sighed and hugged him even tighter. She then released and made her way to the door with all of her stuff. She turned and smiled one last time and then walked outside and into the rest of the Citadel.

What day there was, was really nice. The sky was of a bright blue and Ember even turned down the tint of her visor to see it better. There was no sun, but it seemed like there was as the light from both the city, and the space around it, cascaded off the buildings and made it down to the floors below. Ember sighed and had only experienced a few of these days on the Citadel. She smiled and walked the path she knew quite well, to the stupidly slow elevator that lead to C-Sec.

She stepped out of the elevator and walked to the docking platform with the same Alliance soldiers standing at the entrance. “Good to see you!” He called out, causing a few heads to turn his way, and then back in front of the individuals.

Ember smiled, with a hint of longing to be back at her place. Even her sleepiness wasn't entirely gone, but the coffee had helped. She walked through the doors with the soldiers following with a small and simple 'hello'. When she made it through the other door, she saw three people standing there to meet her. She hadn't seen any of them before, but from the looks of it they were all important one manner or another.

There was a dark-skinned human, with a completely shaved head and warming smile on his face. The other was an aged man, his suit looking like something a really high up person would wear. He had a small goatee and eyes that were also warming, but showed a cold and sternness to them. The final person was a Turian. He wore black and red armour, with various guns strapped to him, and with a rigid face but his eyes too had kindness that Ember could easily detect. She smiled at them as she approached and they saluted.

“Good to finally meet you Oblivion.” The eldest man said, his hand falling to his side, but the soldiers behind Ember kept theirs.

“Good to meet you too, Mr...?” Ember asked, hoping that it was appropriate to call him 'Mister'.

He chuckled, “Right,” and then extended his hand. “I'm Admiral Hackett. Military leader of the Alliance.”

Ember shook his hand and then spoke her name. “Ember'Xaelas nar Rayya. It's a pleasure to meet you Admiral.”

He nodded and then proceeded to announce the names of the people with him. “This is Captain Anderson, captain of the Normandy, or the ship to your left.” He said as Anderson bowed slightly and extended his hand as well.

Ember shook it and looked at the ship and marvelled. It was beautiful. A sleek body, with powerful thrusters at the back. Guns could be seen on the ship, but it looked more like something that would be used for stealth operations Ember thought.

“Finally, this is Nihlus. He is a Spectre for the council, and is well trained in battle.”

The Turian did his best at a smile and he bowed slightly.

“So, you have a second name?” Anderson asked.

“No, Oblivion was picked up from the locals when I was bounty hunting.”

The group of men nodded in understanding.

“So why'd you call me down here Admiral?” Ember asked, after looking at the ship, the Normandy, a bit longer.

“Ah, yes. We have a small task that needs to be done on a planet. Eden Prime is the target, and Anderson and Nihlus will accompany you.” Hackett spoke clearly.

“Is Eden Prime a colony...?” Ember asked, worried that the answer would be 'yes'.

“No,” Hackett said, prompting a small sigh of relief from Ember. “It is a planet that has been under human control for years. But there's been some trouble on it, and we'd like you and Nihlus to dispose of it.”

“Ok, but why is a Spectre, one of the most important people of the council, joining me on this task?” Ember asked, looking directly at Nihlus.

“I have some free time, and I thought this would be nice to do.”

Ember frowned, but nodded.

“Well,” Hackett sighed. “You should board the Normandy and make it over to Eden Prime as soon as you can. If you get there soon, the small group of bandits can't do much harm or get reinforcements.” He saluted once again. “I shall be here for your return.”

Ember nodded. “I won't let you down Admiral.”

He dipped his head and wordlessly walked off and out of the C-Sec headquarters.

“Guess we should get on board the Normandy, right?” Anderson said, as he made his way over to the stunning ship.

Ember's heart fluttered in her chest. She would actually get on board that ship. It was like any Quarian's dream to be on board such an impressive vessel. It wasn't a hunk of scrap, or falling apart at the seems, or dangerous to live on. No, it was a normal and fully functioning ship that anyone would most likely pay to live in. She smiled to herself and walked into the airlock with the Spectre and the Captain, and got the tint in her visors back down to a reasonable darkness. She didn't like the light from ships, but it was something she would have to live with so the dimmer it was, the better for her.

The ship hissed as the door closed and then the scanner activated. It was a white wall of light that washed past the three people in the small room and said something Ember wasn't paying attention to in a lifeless and mechanical voice. The door finally slid open and Ember nearly jumped in before looking around. She was on the neck of the ship with the pilot at the front and various people at terminals along the bridge. They all seemed to be doing something important but Ember wasn't sure what it was.

The chair in the front, the pilot's, turned around with an alliance pilot with a neck beard showed his face. He looked to be fairly young and wore a capped hat along with his standard uniform. He had a smile on his face that looked genuine enough for Ember.

“Welcome back Captain,” He spoke, until his smile stopped a small bit at the sight of the aliens on board. “Who are they?”

“Friends.” Anderson spoke, and Ember was sure that if she was interested in humans, his voice would melt her heart. It already nearly did. “They'll be accompanying us on our trip to Eden Prime.”

The pilot nodded. “I'm Joker, or at least that's what the crew calls me.”

Nihlus looked at the pilot. “Are you going to stand up, and shake our hands? I know that's the normal greeting of people.”

“I would if I could. Can't stand really, I'll talk about it later if you want to know.”

“I do,” Ember said, her voice kind and cheerful.

Joker chuckled. “If you ever make it out of the room with the drive core. That thing costs a small fortune.”

Ember smiled. “I'll have to check it out soon.”

Anderson turned to Nihlus and Ember. “As you now know, that is Joker. One of the best pilots the Alliance has known.”

“The best.” Joker corrected.

Anderson rolled his eyes at the comment. “He'll keep you company if you so chose, or if you have nobody else to speak with.”

Joker sighed. “If you can handle sarcasm and some snark, then yes.”

Ember smiled at him, hoping that she could make a friend. “I'll see you soon,” She promised.

“I'm here whenever,” Joker said, spinning back on his chair to face the dash once again.

The trio walked down the bridge and Nihlus and Ember got some weird looks from the crew while they saluted the Captain. One of the humans, which had some stubble on his chin and short, white and balding hair on the top of his head spoke up. “What are aliens doing aboard?”

“Settle down Pressly,” Anderson said, raising his hand for a moment. “They'll be travelling with us to Eden Prime. I assume you won't be too hostile to them on our journey?”

“I'll try not, Sir.” Pressly said, turning his head in slight shame and back to the terminal he was working on.

They walked down to the second level and made it to a room with various pods and cots set up. “This is where you two will be sleeping, along with the rest of the crew. You can reserve a pod for use, or if you prefer to use a cot, you can reserve one of them.”

“Reserve how?” Ember asked.

Anderson walked over to one of the pods and punched in a name into the keypad. “Ember right?”

“I think it would be best if everyone called me Oblivion.” Ember said, but nodding to Anderson's question.

Anderson nodded and punched that into the pod. He turned around afterwards and looked at Ember. “There, now people will know it's yours.”

Ember smiled, even though she was pretty sure that Anderson could see nothing more than her bright eyes. “Thanks,”

He dipped his head wordlessly and then turned to Nihlus. “I assume you can follow suit?”

Nihlus nodded and remained silent.

They walked back up to the main floor with a large holographic map of the galaxy. It was really impressive Ember thought. Something like that would cost a lot. More than some ships on the Fleet, she knew. They walked into one of the rooms with various guns scattered throughout it and one person disassembling one of the assault rifles.

“I ask that you place down your weapons in here. They can be on one of the shelves at the end. Nobody uses them and they'll know they're not their own.”

“Can I keep a pistol?” Nihlus asked.

Anderson nodded and looked to Ember. “Same goes for you.”

“Thank you,” Ember said, placing the other weapons she had on the shelf at the very end beside Nihlus' weapons.

Nihlus stood in the centre of the room and looked to Anderson and Ember. “I'm going to spend my time in here. Nowhere else to really use my talents.”

Anderson nodded and walked with Ember out of the room, leaving Nihlus to look at the many guns that laid in the room. They walked to just behind of the galactic map and went down to the bottom level, where Anderson wordlessly led her to the ship's core. It was a huge circular structure with blue from the Element Zero being used warping and twirling around the massive core. It was extremely impressive to Ember. It had more power than any ship on the Flotilla, she knew that much for certain.

“I can see why Joker said I wouldn't be leaving...” Ember breathed, awestruck by the amazing drive core in front of her.

Anderson walked over to the man who controlled the core and laid a hand on his shoulder. The man turned around and saluted. “Good to see you Captain.”

“At ease,” Anderson said. “Oblivion here will be helping out with the drive core. Making sure it can be at optimal capability. Can you do that Oblivion?”

Ember nodded. “I can, and will.”

He smiled. “Then I'll leave you two to it,” He said as he walked off in the direction of the other slow elevator.

Ember looked at the core and sighed. This was all going well so far.

* * * * *

Ember walked across the bridge of the ship. Her head held high, and her strides long. She made it to the cockpit and rested a hand on Joker's chair. She had gotten used to being over in the same place with Joker. They had established a very solid friendship based on their liking of ships. He had become one of the only friends she had aboard the ship, and she was determined to see it last.

“Oh, hey Ember,” Joker said, his gaze remaining fixed to in front of him.

“Hey Joker,” Ember said, her eyes looking in the same direction as his. “How long until we make it to Eden Prime?”

“I'd say ten minutes.” Joker guessed, glancing up at Ember.

“Good, I wish I had time to talk, but I have to go.” Ember said, her hand leaving Joker's chair and her feet already beginning to move in the direction of the galaxy map.

“Me too,” Joker said before letting Ember nearly jog off to meet up with Anderson.

She made it into the room where she was supposed to meet him, but he wasn't there. Instead Nihlus was, facing away from her.

“Hello Nihlus. Where's Anderson?” Ember asked, walking over to him.

He didn't even look to Ember as she walked up to him. “He will be here shortly. But I have something to tell you,”

“If it's about Saren, you know Garrus could use the help.”

“It's not about him. It's about the mission. There's a grander reason for you coming than simple rogues.” Nihlus spoke, his hands behind his back.

“Then what's the reason?”

“The council wants to make you a Spectre.” He said firmly, but not coldly.

Ember's eyes went wide. “You mean... like you?”

He nodded. “Yes. The council is willing to give your species a chance after some negotiation, with most of it involving me. If you become a Spectre, you'll represent the entire Quarian race though. Your actions would mean if Quarians ever got a seat in the council.”

“I thought that humanity was already going after that spot.”

“They are, but that doesn't mean there is only one seat left. You might just be able to change the reputation of your species. Make this worth it.”

Ember was stunned. She could actually make a difference for the Fleet. That would be more than a just gift for a pilgrimage. But she was nervous. She didn't know how to react well with the weight of an entire species on her shoulders. Not many people did. But this would be worth it, she knew it. But she didn't know if her race would even be willing to take a seat in the council, until they regained their homeworld.

Anderson stepped in and looked at Ember and Nihlus. “Good. You're both here. We're going to be landing on Eden Prime any minute now, but we just received this message, and video.”

He played it, and the first thing Ember noticed was a lot of shooting. She thought it was just the bandits, but then she noticed there were a lot more soldiers needed than for a small shooting. There was a small army, nearly and they were all firing into the sky. Screams and cries filled the room from the video and then she saw it. A massive ship with red bolts of lighting, or something on it. The thing was massive, but didn't resemble any type of model she had seen. But from the looks of it, it looked like it was of Geth origins. Ember's heart dropped. Had the Geth really made it to Eden Prime and attacked? And if so, why?

Anderson paused the video with the giant ship in the centre of the screen. Nihlus' mandibles twitched, his face looking both confused and concerned.

“We don't know what this thing is, but it is certainly a threat. This is a lot more than just fighting bandits now...”

Ember looked to the screen in worry. If it really was the Geth, she didn't think they stood much of a chance. The Geth had defeated her entire race, and she wasn't sure that two soldiers, a biotic, a Quarian bounty hunter, and a Spectre could stop that. But she was determined enough, that was for sure. If she pulled this off and beat back a horde of Geth, that would be enough to get the Council to believe she would be worthy for a Spectre status.

“We drop in a few minutes, everyone gather their gear.” Anderson spoke as he walked out of the room, leaving Nihlus and Ember looking at one another.

“I think we might be up against Geth,” Ember said, and Nihlus nodded.

“I'm pretty sure we are.”

This was not going to go well...

They stood at the very back of the Normandy, their armour on and weapons put wherever they could fit. The entire group was nervous, and that didn't help. Anderson stood with the group but had no gear on for fighting; he was sitting this one out.

“When we jump, you and Ember will jump off while Nihlus goes alone.”

“You aren't coming with us?” One of the people in the group asked. Ember knew him as Kaidan.

“I move faster on my own,” Nihlus said, jumping out of the ship.

“Like hell you do!” Ember said, jumping after him against her orders.

“What the hell are you doing Ember? I thought I said I work faster on my own!”

Ember sighed at the infuriated Nihlus. “If we're fighting Geth, then you _need_ another person with you. Go alone, and you'll die. Just how it works.”

“Then how did you survive so long?” Nihlus shot back, his anger slowly dissipating.

“I wasn't fighting Geth,” Ember said, following Nihlus' brisk pace. “I was killing idiotic criminals who didn't know better.”

Nihlus sighed. “Well. It's too late to get you back with the squad. I like working on my own, but I guess I'll make an exception for you.”

Ember smiled and then nodded as they walked over the hills of the planet called 'Eden Prime'.

* * * * *

Kaidan's eyes went wide when he saw Ember jump after Nihlus as did everyone else's. But this was important, and he knew that Nihlus should have someone with him. He might like working alone, but it would get him killed one day. That wouldn't be good. So he was with the two other humans on this expedition to see what happened. One was the commander, and the other was Jenkins. A complete rookie. He knew he would do well though, he had been training for a few months now and showed remarkable advancement.

They all jumped off when they made it to a proper place to land. It had to be nice, at least a small bit, for Jenkins to see his home. When they landed, it seemed they had a set path for them to follow. There was a clearing, and then a small way in the hills that allowed them to go through. As they walked closer, they pulled out their weapons for anything that might try to get the jump on them. Kaidan looked over and saw these hovering things that looked like large floating Hanar with more than a few massive tumours on it.

“What the hell are those?” Kaidan said in near-disgust.

“Gasbags, don't worry; they're harmless.” Jenkins said, and the Commander just remained silent through it all.

When they made it into the next section they saw a large strip of land that lead to trees. One one side was a cliff, and the other was impassible hills. Kaidan thought it was almost like a video game with how the terrain had formed. But when they made it past, small drones that he had never seen made their way around the corner on the far side and immediately began firing. Jenkins cried out as he fell to the ground, never even firing off a shot. His Commander and him fought for only a few moments, before the Commander fell as well as the drones, or the drones exploded.

Kaidan knelt beside the died Commander and frowned, before mumbling a prayer to no god in particular. He examined the body of Jenkins, which stung him emotionally. Jenkins had been his only real friend during his time in the Alliance. While he had a few others, they didn't have the connection that he had with Jenkins. He found that the weapons on the drones had busted right through both the Commander, and Jenkins' shields. That wasn't good.

He picked himself up off one knee and continued on his way far more warily. He encountered a few more drones before he made it into a clearing where he found one other soldier running from something. Running from what though? He ran over to the rock that the other soldier was hiding behind and nodded. She looked at him and breathed a small sigh of relief. She was young, and wore typical defence armour with a cheap assault rifle in her hand. If Kaidan thought so, she was actually quite pretty, but that wasn't the time for flirting.

He set his teeth in and waited for the moment when whatever was on the other side of the rock made it over to his and the other soldier's side. When it did, it was a robot of some sort. Tall and humanoid. It had a single camera with a bright light in the centre of its head, and that was all the head had. He open fired and soon he heard the other soldier also firing. The robot fell without too much of a challenge. It didn't even manage to fire of a shot at him. He rounded the corner and shot the rest of the robots and watched as they fell to the ground in crumpled heaps.

The other soldier sighed and then looked to Kaidan. “Thanks, I most likely would be dead without you,” She said, panting.

Kaidan smiled and panted as well. “You're welcome. Lt. Alenko, Kaidan”

“Private Williams, Ashley” The soldier, Ashley, followed suit.

“Are you the last person of your squad?” Kaidan asked.

“Yeah, and by the looks of it, you are too. What's the Alliance doing here?”

Kaidan shrugged. “We originally were going to take out a small pirate den here but plans changed when we received your distress signal.”

“Wait, you got it?” Ashley asked.

Kaidan nodded. “Oh, good! I was worried it wouldn't get through. All our tech was blocked for a time.”

“Right, well could you accompany me? I'm trying to meet up with another squad. We have a ship too, so we can get out of here.”

Ashley nodded without a moment of thought. “I will. My squad is dead, and I have nowhere else to go.”

Kaidan smiled. He might just make it through this alive.

_Bang!_ The sound of a single, and loud gunshot fired off through the air and broke each person out of thought. “We should see who that was, it didn't sound too far from here.”

Kaidan nodded and began to move forwards. He hoped that bullet didn't hit Nihlus or Oblivion. 

* * * * *

Ember did her best to follow after Nihlus, and did a good job at keeping up. She had no weapons in her hands, while Nihlus had his pistol out. They ran up a hill and found a large open section, it seemed to be a loading point. Crates and boxed were stacked all over the place, but fire swarmed the location. Nihlus looked to Ember, and she looked back, both panting a fair amount. “I'm heading down there,”

“I'll provide support,” Ember said as she grabbed her sniper rifle from her back and let it unfold into the huge weapon it was.

Nihlus nodded and opened up his Omni-Tool and hooked his up to hers. “Now we can hear and speak with one another over distances.”

Ember nodded and then laid down. “Good, now go on and get down there.”

Nihlus smirked and chuckled, as he slid down the slope on his feet and then made it to the main platform. He inspected a few bodies before he looked up and was surprised by who he saw. “Saren,” he said, his voice full of surprise.

Saren? The Spectre that Garrus was trying to get dirt on? Ember focused her sights on him as he came into view.

“Nihlus,” Saren said, no surprise detected in his voice.

“Saren, what are you doing here? I'm already working.” Nihlus said.

“I hadn't heard.” Saren said.

Nihlus let his guard down and turned his head away from Saren to process it all. “Good to see you old friend,”

Saren smirked. “You too,” As he pulled out a pistol and aimed it right at the back of Nihlus' head. Ember focused right down on Saren's hand and fired, causing the gun to fly from his hand, as well as a few other things. He let out a cry, and then a snarl as he began to run off. Ember tried to get him again, but he got out of view before she could fire off the next shot.

Nihlus looked stunned at what had just happened, but didn't question it. A small 'thanks' came from her Omni-Tool and Ember smiled to herself. Then Nihlus began shooting. Ember didn't know what at, until she saw the horde of monsters heading towards him. She began unloading shots into the monsters as they came, but too many of them had surrounded Nihlus. Ember did something she thought she would never do, or do again. Go into up close combat. She stood up and let her sniper fold back up and then grabbed her pistol and slide down the slope like Nihlus had done.

She made it down fine and immediately began firing into the horde of whatever these humanoid creatures were, and just as she suspected, she saw Geth in the mix. An involuntary shudder emerged from her as she gripped her sights down and fired shot after shot into the monsters and Geth. Finally, the horde was dead and Ember knelt down to see what the monsters really were. They were humans, but also not. Their skin had turned completely black and bright blue and white circuitry lined the deceased person's body with white beady eyes. They looked like monsters one would see in a horror film.

Ember turned to Nihlus, who was still fine even after the attack. He dusted himself off and looked to Ember. “Good job on both fighting back those monsters, and saving my life. Thank you,”

Ember smiled and dipped her head. “That was exactly the reason I went with you instead of staying behind.”

“And again, you have my thanks.”

Ember turned and looked over to the rest of the place. It was almost completely demolished, and then two figures moved down the slope to the west. It looked like Kaidan and someone else, but Ember wasn't entirely sure. They made it down to the platform and walked onto it. It was indeed Kaidan, and another person she hadn't seen before. She wore white and red armour in contrast of Kaidan's near-black armour. It also looked to be far heavier than Kaidan's too.

“Who are you?” Ember asked, pointing for only a moment at Ashley.

“Ashley Williams,” She said. “My squad has been wiped out, as well as Kaidan's. He's informed me that you two are the other squad.”

Nihlus and Ember looked at one another before nodding. “We are,” Nihlus said.

“Good,” Ashley said. “So got anything to tell?”

“Not much more than Saren, a Spectre of the council, attempted to kill Nihlus and ran off. We need to go after him.” Ember said, determination in her voice.

“Sounds like a plan,” Kaidan said, walking behind Nihlus and Ember who had already begun walking off in the direction of where Saren went.

They ended up making it to the transport cart which was used for moving the crates, or that was Ember's guess at least. They all got onto it and hit the switch that sent it off at a quick pace. It zoomed along the place for a few moments until it slowed to a halt, and they were all welcomed with gunfire from more Geth that had inhabited the place. They fired down onto the squad, but none ever hit. Ashley had a shot go right next to her face though. Too close if you asked her.

Once the group was dead, they looked over and was shocked at what they found. Bombs had been planted around the area to kill them off for good, even at the cost of the station. Ember immediately went to disarming the bomb. She did and sighed deeply as she had little experience in disarming explosives. The group crossed the bridge and found another bomb to which Ember promptly deactivated. More Geth made their way into the area and another firefight started. The squad emerged victorious, even though some Medi-Gel had to be used on Ashley.

They made it through the pile of dead bodies and found one more bomb which they deactivated soon enough. Ember looked back and was shocked she had missed it. Another bomb still ticked away on the other side of the bridge. She broke into a full-on sprint and ran towards the bomb. She plopped down in front of it and began working on it like she had before until the bomb died out, and no longer functioned. Ember breathed a massive sigh of relief, knowing that it was the last bomb they had. They wouldn't place bombs anywhere else but where it really mattered, their escape route.

She made it back and had a few puzzled faces pointed her direction until she explained. They nodded in understanding and continued on. One more wave of enemies was fought before all was quiet. Nothing that was a threat to them remained alive, and the abominations that once were humans were dead, along with the Geth. “I've never heard of Geth being able to turn people into husks before.” Nihlus said.

“That's because they never _have_ done it before.” Ember said, her eyes transfixed on the sight in front of her. A huge round, smouldering circle lay in the centre of a city that was on the edge of an ocean. The red sky and clouds only helped the destroyed tone of the world.

Then came something Ember focused her attention to next. It was a large tower-like structure. Not tall enough to actually be a tower, far from it actually. But it was like a beacon of some sorts. From the look of it, it was Prothean. While everyone else congratulated one another for surviving the stuff they did, Ember was more focused on the beacon. As she took steps towards it though, it flashed and flared to life with green energy flowing around it. The rest of the group noticed the beacon a little too late, as Ember was lifted up into the air and had some sort of vision planted into her mind. Images of red, orange and black filled her mind as she struggled to break free of the grasp of the beacon. Finally, it finished and exploded, causing Ember to land on the ground.

Hitting the ground was the last thing she saw on Eden Prime.


	8. Visions, and Information

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ember wakes up from what the beacon on Eden Prime gave her and then heads back to the Citadel to get some more information on Saren.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the Nine, this chapter is long overdue. I'm very sorry for that, but I just couldn't get myself to immerse myself back into Mass Effect. But the next chapter should be out in a few days due to me still being in the zone for writing.  
> This chapter contains a lot of dialogue, more so than most of the other ones. Oh well, Mass Effect already has tons of it. Hope you all don't mind.

Joker flew the Normandy right to the spot where the small squad of five was going to be picked up. Since he had been contacted, that meant stuff had gone well enough he supposed. He lowered the ship to the ground as much as he could, and let the crew climb aboard before closing the back and flying off. He sighed to himself, everything had gone just well and nobody really got injured. But his mind went to Ember and if she was in danger. She wouldn't be in that much danger though, Joker dismissed, she lived through Akuze and what happened on Omega; she could make it through anything.

But no matter how hard he tried, his mind slowly drifted back to the young Quarian. What if she really _had_ been hurt? What kind of damage would she have sustained? His thoughts plagued him as he flew the ship out of the system and on the way back to the Citadel. He heard footsteps coming down the bridge, and he wondered who it was. “Oh, hey Ember. Everything go well?” He said, not bothering to turn around.

But instead it was Nihlus who came into view. “It's not Ember,”

“Oh, where is she?” Joker asked, his eyes on the Spectre now.

Nihlus' mandibles twitched with worry. “The medbay, she... I... I don't know what happened, really.”

Joker's heart dropped. “She is?”

Nihlus nodded. “You can see her if you like, but I doubt she will be waking...”

Joker frowned. “Tomorrow is when I can actually get to see her, since I won't be allowing autopilot to do anything until we're out of the system.”

Nihlus dipped his head a few times. “She's alive though, and that's all that really matters.”

“It is,” Joker said, hoping that his friend was alright.

* * * * *

The same images of what the beacon had done to her flashed through her mind over and over. Pictures of death, destruction, and abandonment showed up for only a moment before it was gone and replaced with a different one. Ember struggled to get her eyes open, but not before seeing one final image. It stayed longer than the others had, it was a planet, bone-dry and bare. People lined the streets all with a huge fleet of ships in the sky. Ember didn't fully recognize them, but they looked like the Geth ship she had seen in the video.

But it didn't fit. The tech and design wasn't of any she had seen before and that meant the Geth weren't the ones to destroy the planet. But if it wasn't the Geth, then what was it...?

Ember opened her eyes, squinting at the glaring light on top of her. She was in a place she didn't fully remember, but had a feeling of what it was: the medbay. Ember groaned as she sat up, realizing she had a massive headache. She was met with the eyes of several people, Anderson was one of them.

“Ugh, what happened?” Ember asked, holding a hand to one side of her face.

The doctor, who's name Ember could only remember a fraction of, spoke. “You were out cold for a day now. Nihlus, Kaidan and Ashley hauled you to the extraction point and brought here.”

“Then I guess I have all of them to thank,” Ember said, her hand straying from her head down to her lap.

“Well, you can start with Ashley right now,” The Doctor said, stepping back to allow Ashley to step forwards.

“Hey Oblivion!” She chimed, and Ember could see how relaxed she was by seeing her awake. “Where's that 'thank you' you said you'd give me?” She said playfully.

Ember smiled, despite her not knowing Ashley too well, she was already beginning to like her a lot. “Thank you,” She said, dipping her head.

Ashley dipped her head as well in acknowledgement.

“So what happened with the beacon you encountered?” Anderson stepped in.

“Well, held me suspended in the air, and planted a vision into my brain. Like it had been burned right in.”

“A vision you say?” The doctor asked. “What did you see in it?”

Ember leaned towards. “I saw... I'm not really sure what I saw,” She admitted. “Death, destruction, that's about all I got though.”

Anderson frowned. “Hm, well we're heading back to the Citadel in any case. We have to report to the council about Saren going rogue.”

Ember nodded. “With Nihlus and I as witnesses, I don't think they will have too much trouble believing us.”

“You'd be surprised.” Anderson said, bitterness underlining his words.

Just then the door opened, and a very familiar face limped in. He was moving has fast as it seemed he could with his condition but a smile was on his face. He walked over to Ember and hugged her. “I'm glad to see you alright, Ember,” He sighed.

“Good to see you too Joker,” Ember said, not pulling away from his embrace.

Ashley coughed, clearly uncomfortable with the situation going on. “You're name's Ember?”

Ember looked over to her and nodded. “It is, but I mostly use Oblivion with people I just met, or don't trust.”

“I'm guessing that I fall under the 'just met' category?”

“You do. If you were in the 'untrusted' one, I'd let you know.”

Ashley smiled and looked at Joker and then Ember in turn. “So are you two... Uh... Together?”

Joker's eyes went wide and he let go of Ember and took a step back from her. “No, no! We're just friends. Good friends at that.”

Ember nodded and continued what he was saying. “Besides, I have a boyfriend at home, so no. We're not in a relationship.”

Ashley held up her hands. “Alright, it was a simple question.”

They all chuckled. “We know.”

Ember stepped out of the medbay only a few minutes later, after answering some questions after Ashley made her way outside the room. First place she was going was to find Nihlus, and he usually spent all his hours up in the armoury. She made her way there first and said her thanks and whatnot, before making it down to the floor she knew as the 'casual deck'. Kaidan was there fiddling with something on his Omni-Tool when Ember approached, smiling at him and shaking his hand. They only exchanged a few words with one another before Ember was off once more down to the place she spent most of her time.

It would be a few weeks before they made it back to the Citadel, and she was willing to wait. The drive core still impressed her, no matter how many times she saw it. It glowed blue from the Element Zero, and was a true sight to behold for anyone. How she would've loved to just bring a ship like the _Normandy_ back to the Fleet. But it seemed that she had stumbled into something far bigger than just herself, yet she was the prime person involved. It seemed like something straight out of a book, or video game.

She waved as she walked over to her spot where she normally always was, and began to work on optimizing the drive core even more like she had done before. Her fingers flew over the small pad of which she worked on, and soon enough she had squeezed another '+0.01%' out of the drive core. She smiled to herself at her accomplishment, and relaxed just to watch the blue light of the drive core swirl and dance around the giant sphere.

* * * * *

Ember walked down the mess hall and saw Ashley and Kaidan out at a window. She walked over and greeted them silently. Ashley swivelled her head around to look at Ember for only a brief second before she turned it back to the window. “Hey Ember, what's going on?”

Ember shrugged, even though only Kaidan saw it. “Just wondering what you're doing,”

“Well, I want to see the Citadel. I've never been there, and I want to see just how impressive the ship is.”

“Have you seen it?” Ember asked, looking at Kaidan.

He nodded. “I've been there a few times,”

Just then, the intercom sounded and Joker's voice appeared. “We'll be stopping at the Citadel in five minutes, just wanted to let everyone know.”

Nobody spoke, but they all nodded to themselves.

After only a few moments, Ashley's voice rung through the room as she gasped in surprise. “Look at the size of the Citadel! It's like as large as a small planet!”

Kaidan and Ember exchanged looks as Ashley continued to marvel at the Citadel's size. Ember caught a little glance of it, still as prestigious as ever She patted Kaidan on the shoulder and looked at him. “Well, while the Citadel has caught Ashley's eyes, I think we should get some gear and head up to CIC.”

He nodded and walked with Ember as Ashley kept her vision through the window. “Why do we need weapons?”

“It's the Citadel. If we go anywhere else than the Presidium, then we're bound to run into trouble. Also, after enduring what I have, you need a gun with you at nearly all times.”

Kaidan nodded in understanding. “Right, do you think we'll run into trouble?”

“Knowing my luck, yes, we will. Best to have at least a pistol with you.”

They walked up the stairs and made it into the armoury. Nihlus was already there and he had a weapon on his belt as he was working on reassembling another one of his various guns. He nodded at their arrival wordlessly and continued on with what he was doing, as Ember snatched her pistol like someone else was going to take it and slung it around the dark green belt on her suit. She picked up a few of her knives and placed one in her boot and another on her left thigh. Kaidan grabbed his assault rifle, and his pistol was already on his hip.

“So will I be with you, or making my way with Anderson to the Presidium to speak with the council?” Nihlus asked, his attention on his third weapon which he was still assembling.

“I say you should head with Anderson. Ashley and Kaidan can be with me, it'll be fine.”

He nodded and continued fiddling with his weapon.

Kaidan and Ember walked out into CIC and went down the room and through the bridge to where Joker was. He swivelled in his chair and looked at them, a smile on his face.

“Just wanted to speak with you before I left!” Ember chimed.

“Right. I hope all goes well with the council, from what I know, they don't always accept only one source of evidence.”

Ember frowned. “So you're saying that Nihlus' near-murder might not be enough?”

He nodded. “Sadly yes, I think you should get a little bit more dirt on Saren before confronting the council about it.”

“Well, my boyfriend has been trying to get dirt on him for years now. I think he should have something.”

Joker smiled. “Good,”

“Who is he?” Kaidan asked.

“My boyfriend?” Ember asked in reply.

He nodded wordlessly.

“Oh. He's a Turian. Tall. Handsome. C-Sec officer. Has a voice that melts my heart.”

“You, a bounty hunter, became the girlfriend of a C-Sec officer?” Kaidan asked, his eyebrows raised.

She nodded. “Yeah, not the most likely pairing, I have to admit. But he asked me on a date when we met, and that was that really.”

“Did he freak out about your Geth arm?” Joker, well... joked.

Ember shook her head. “No, he kept it surprisingly cool. More than I can say for some people...” She said, accusingly glaring at Kaidan who just shrunk back.

She still remembered Kaidan's reaction when he saw Ember for the first time with a Geth arm on her. She had gotten used to it, but not the reactions some people had. His had been the most shocking out of them all.

They stood at the airlock, waiting for the ship to land as Ashley ran up and stopped by Kaidan and Ember. She gave them each a silent nod. Nihlus followed afterwards, with Anderson at his back. They strode slowly and proudly over to the group that had gathered at the airlock and smiled at the group. The door slid open and the five people walked inside, waiting for the other door to slide open so they could get out.

When the door finally opened, Ember was the first one out and glad to be out of a ship. She took whatever chance she really could to not be in one after so long aboard the Migrant Fleet in her earlier life. They all walked through the door to C-Sec and then entered the extremely slow elevator. Once they were all out, Nihlus and Anderson bid their way to the Council and Ember and the two marines behind her, just marvelled at the Presidium's beauty.

“I think we should take Joker's advice and try to get more dirt on Saren before we meet at the council.” Ember said, shaking Ashley and Kaidan from their admiration of the Presidium.

They both nodded.

Ember smiled and pulled up her Omni-Tool and opened up her messenger. She scrolled through her small list of contacts until she found Garrus. She opened it up and began to text.

_E: Hey, where are you?_

After a few moments of silence, her Omni-Tool chirped, signalling a new message had arrived.

_G: Presidium. Why do you ask?_

_E: I'm back on the Citadel_

_G: Really? Great!_

Ember was halfway through typing down something when another text popped up from Garrus.

_G: Where are you?_

_E: Presidium. Same as you_

_G: Good. I'll meet you over at the Council's tower_

_E: Sounds good. See you there_

She flicked off her Omni-Tool when the distinct chirp went off again. She sighed and opened it up once more.

_G: Alright_

She flicked it off again. Garrus; always had to be last to text in a conversation. “Alright, looks like we're heading to the Council tower anyways.”

“Why?” Ashley asked, getting up from her comfortable position of leaning on the rails and staring out at the bright blue water of the small lake.

“My boyfriend is there.” Ember said simply, beginning to walk over to the tower where she had only been in front of a few times.

They walked for what seemed to be only a few minutes, but Ember knew it was a bit longer. Conversation had struck up to make the walk seem faster, and Kaidan and Ashley were rambling on about their times as a soldier and their worst time.

“What was your worst mission with the Alliance?” Ashley asked, as that story had never been told to her by anyone out of respect for Ember, and even she didn't want to speak about it at the time.

But now she guessed she could say it. One word would be all she needed to say for Ashley to understand, and if she had to describe it, so be it.

“Ember?” Ashley asked once more.

“Akuze.” Ember said curtly.

Ashley's face changed from a smile to looking like she just witnessed someone get clocked in the jaw. “Damn. I never knew... If I had....”

Kaidan spoke up, relieving Ember. “It's fine. The entire crew of the _Normandy_ knows. We didn't tell you out of respect for her. She speaks of it to everyone eventually.”

Ember smiled. Kaidan was a nice person. He knew her reasons exactly, and had been in Ashley's situation before. She was happy to have a friend like him.

“But still... Akuze was terrible...” Ashley said, shaking her head even though Ember couldn't see it.

“It was,” Ember said. “I only wish I could've done something more. I'll tell you the details later.”

Ashley nodded and went silent.

Kaidan leaned over to Ashley and whispered, but Ember still heard what he was saying behind her back, literally.

“That time was rough for her, but not as rough as her earlier years. Maybe you could ask her about that as well. It may not have been good, but it is certainly a story worth hearing.”

“I'm glad you think so, Kaidan.” Ember spoke, a smile on her lips. “Only a few do.”

“Oh, uh...” Kaidan spoke. Ember could almost hear his hand rubbing the back of his head. “Didn't know you heard that.”

“I can tell.” She said through a chuckle.

“When would be a good time for you to speak about your life?” Ashley asked, finally speaking once again.

“Maybe over a drink. I know of a nice restaurant that we could go to, and I'm sure Kaidan wouldn't mind hearing the story again.”

He shook his head. “No, it may have been rough, but it's a good story. One that could be in books, or even a video game!”

Ember laughed. “I doubt it,”

The tower of the council stood tall and proud like the Citadel did. Ember could clearly see Garrus in his normal blue armour speaking with someone else. She approached and went to listen in.

“Please, just give me a few more months. I can get the information then!” Garrus pleaded to the other Turian.

His mouth showed a frown. “You said that a few months ago! I'm sorry, but you're off the case and it will be closed down.”

Garrus sighed and turned around as his eyes went wide. He smiled and broke into a small jog, as Ember approached at a brisker pace. He hugged her and wrapped his arms around Ember protectively. “I'm so happy to see you,”

Ember sighed into his chest. “As am I,”

Kaidan and Ashley looked at one another, before walking a bit closer to the couple.

“I assume you're Ember's boyfriend?” Kaidan asked, a little intimidated by the Turian.

His eyes opened and he looked at Ashley and Kaidan. “I didn't know you brought others.”

Ember wriggled out of his hug and nodded. “I did, sorry for not telling you.”

He waved the apology away. “Not a problem. Who are they?”

“Friends. Good ones. They were at Eden Prime with me.”

He nodded in understanding. “Ah, I saw that on the news. I'm glad nobody was hurt too much.”

Ember unconsciously brushed a hand over her Geth arm and crack in her visor. “Yeah,”

Garrus walked over and shook both Ashley and Kaidan's hands. “I'm Garrus,”

“Ashley,”

“Kaidan,”

“Nice to meet you both.” He said, his smile never fading. He turned back to Ember and walked over to her. “Well, I'm not sure how much you heard, but I'm being laid off the case.”

Ember frowned. “Yeah, I heard. Please tell me you have some solid evidence?”

Garrus shook his head sadly. “I don't. I have some leads, but that's about it.”

“Most reliable one?” Ember questioned.

“Supposedly a Quarian here on the Citadel has some valuable information on Saren. Besides you of course.”

“Well...” Ember said, looking to Kaidan and Ashley before looking back to Garrus. “Let's find that Quarian.”


	9. Finally Reunited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ember is working on tracking down this mysterious Quarian. She met another bounty hunter like herself, but when she found the Quarian, a larger problem emerged than what she was trying to solve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slowness on this chapter, but I had some difficulty writing it.  
> Also, I have a decision I'd like you, the readers, to take part in.

“Why?” Garrus asked.

“We needs something to hold against Saren. He tried to kill Nihlus, the Spectre, but we don't think that will entirely be enough. Let's find this Quarian and make sure we have enough proof to convince the council.”

Garrus nodded. “Last I know, she was trying to meet with the Shadow Broker, and is somewhere in the Wards.”

“Know anyone who works with the Broker, Garrus?” Ember asked, one of her eyebrows raised.

He contemplated the thought for a few moments, before he nodded. “I do. A Volus over near in the Financial district.”

“Then let's go there!” Ember declared.

“Well...” Garrus said, grabbing onto Ember's wrist as she turned. “I'm not going with you for now.”

Ember's heart dropped. “What? What do you mean?”

“There's one place I want to check out; one where we could possibly find the Quarian.”

“Then we'll head with you,” Ember said.

“No, you go and meet the Volus and I'll go to where I need to. You'll most likely get a stronger lead from him then where I'm going.”

Ember eyed him for a few moments, but finally, reluctantly nodded. “Can you at least tell me where you're going?”

“Clinic.” Garrus answered quickly. “Small place down in the Wards.”

Ember nodded again. “Alright. Be safe.”

He dipped his head. “You too,”

Then he took off.

Ashley looked at Kaidan and then Ember in turn. “I guess we shouldn't waste any time right?”

They both nodded. “Yeah, let's go.”

The walk to the district to find the Volus wasn't that far. It was just on the side of the Presidium where they started, just on the other side of the lake. The embassies were also on the other side of the lake. They came across a building that looked like it would have a Volus, although you couldn't really tell since the building looked like every other one. They stepped inside, and were relieved to find a Volus milling about on the other side of a desk at the far end of the building. They walked closer and he introduced himself.

“Greetings,” The small, round alien spoke. “I am...” The breather interrupted him mid-sentence, as was the norm with Volus. “Barla Von, a financial... ...adviser. How can I assist?”

“Um, hi,” Ember said, extending her arm for a handshake, yet unsure if the Volus would accept. He did so with only a few shakes. “I'm Ember. I'm looking for some information.”

“What makes you think... ...I have information?” Barla said, remaining on the other side of his counter.

“My...” Ember spoke slowly, looking behind at her small squad, worry in her eyes. “partner directed me here.”

The Volus looked at her suspiciously. “Oh? You know that information... ...won't come cheap.”

Ember smiled, her eyes narrowed on the little alien. “I have more than enough to pay.”

The Volus chuckled to himself. “I'm sure you do. Hand it over,”

Ember pulled out her credit chit, looking at the little number that read '102,378' on it. She passed it over to the little Volus and he blew a small whistle.

“Yes, you certainly have enough. I'll take the credits when I can gauge how much the information is worth... ...What do you want to know?”

“We're looking for a Quarian. Said to have information on Saren.”

The Volus stood ridged for a moment, eyes locked onto Ember. “Saren? You want information on Saren?”

Ember nodded once, sharply. “I do.”

The Volus clasped his hands together, and then grabbed her chit on the table. “You can have... this back. Dirt on Saren... ...is information I am willing... ...to give up.”

Ember looked at him a little shocked. “Why's that?”

“He... ...betrayed my boss. ...You don't betray my boss.”

“I see. Do you have at least a little info on the Quarian?”

He nodded after he handed the chit back and let his hands fall to the edge of his desk. “She's trying to get in touch with the Shadow broker... One of our members will meet her... ...but he's gone to work for Saren. ...A bounty hunter has been hired to kill him. ...I say he's your best bet on finding her.”

“Any idea where the bounty hunter is, and what he looks like?” Ember asked, feeling that she might want to get this person as a friend. Bounty hunters can be your best friends, and worst enemies in many cases.

“He's... ...a Krogan. Down at C-Sec... here on the Presidium for... ...harassment, I believe.”

She said her thanks and left swiftly, Kaidan and Ashley having difficulties keeping up with her.

They walked along the bridge towards the other side of the Presidium but one thought wracked her mind. _Her? Could it possibly be...? No. It couldn't. She's left my life, and I've moved on. There's thousands of other Quarians out there. I doubt it would ever be her._ She thought to herself, even as a tear slipped down her cheek. She was glad she was in front and had a visor so nobody could see.

They made it down the extremely slow elevator and, true to the Volus' word, there was a Krogan down near the dock. He was huge, well all Krogans were, but he was bigger than most she had seen. He was pretty intimidating, but not as much so as some of the other people she had known in her earlier life...

She shook her head a little, banishing those thoughts for the time being as she walked over to the Krogan. A small group of C-Sec officers crowded around him and were giving him warnings. He just smirked and chuckled his way through each one of them. When Ember made it over, one of the officers shoved her back. “Hey, this is C-Sec business. Get out of here!”

He was a Turian. Tall, but not like Garrus was. He stood only a few inches taller than Ember, herself and was short compared to the Krogan behind him. “Get out of here suit rat!” He yelled, drawing the attention of nearly everyone in the room. Oh, so he was mean to Quarians was he? Ember just smirked and stood her ground.

“I'm here to speak to the Krogan.” She said calmly, despite a feeling of anger being inside her from the Turian. _Maybe if I became a Spectre, I would be able to earn back respect for us Quarians._

“On who's business?” The Turian nearly spat.

“The Council's,” She said, resting a hand on her hip.

The Turian threw his head back and laughed. “A Quarian taking orders from the _Council_? Yeah, and they're also trying to make a Quarian a Spectre too!”

Ember nearly laughed from his very accurate 'guess' and then went serious once again. “Don't believe me? Ask them yourself.”

The Turian shut up after that, and looked her dead in the eye.

“What's the matter?” She taunted. “Not important enough for the Council to care about you?”

He bit his lip. “I am important! The Council cares about me!”

“Then why can't you speak with them?” She was grinning behind her visor, but she was glad he couldn't see.

“Well... I...” He said rubbing the back of his head.

“I'm on Council business to speak with this Krogan.” She said, her voice taking on a forceful undertone. “If you want to challenge their orders, go ahead and try to stop me.”

Unfortunately, he stood his ground, while his other C-Sec 'friends' backed off to a safe distance. “I'm going to need proof.”

“How about I give you my name instead?” Ember said. Before he could respond she said it. “Oblivion,”

His eyes went wide for a moment. “You can't be!”

“Oh, so you know of her, do you?” Ember mocked an almost-surprised tone.

“Yeah,” He admitted. “Supposed to be a really good bounty hunter on Omega.”

“Well,” Ember spoke, mentally patting herself on the back. “I try.”

He remained silent.

“Do you really want to challenge me now?”

“I can arrest you!” The Turian threatened. “If I brought you in, the Council would have to notice!”

The Krogan had since moved from his spot and relaxed against the wall, grinning at the sight before him.

Ember laughed. “So you admit the Council doesn't care about you?”

The Turian glared at her. “I can still arrest you.”

“How? What evidence do you have against me?”

The crowd around Ember and the Turian C-Sec officer had grown, and lots of officers were now watching.

“You just claimed you were Oblivion! That's all the proof I need.”

“But,” Ember said, shaking one of her two fingers. “The Council doesn't have any power in the Terminus Systems, and have no authority there. They can't arrest me for crimes in space that is not their own.”

The Turian cursed to himself for being so stupid, causing a chuckle amongst the group around him and Ember. One of the C-Sec officers walked over and laid a hand on the Turian's shoulder. “Just stop this, and let her speak with the Krogan. You've shamed yourself enough, and I doubt you want to mess with someone like Oblivion.”

The Turian growled as he turned back to Ember. “Fine! Speak with your damn Krogan.” He stormed off through the crowds, shoving those aside who didn't move.

Ember shrugged. “Huh, what got him in a bad mood?”

She walked over to the Krogan and he got up from his leaning position. “Well, that was pretty entertaining to watch.” He remarked, extending his hand for Ember.

His voice was deep, like most Krogan voices were, and he wore crimson-red armour. He stood easily a food taller than Ember did, and was huge in comparison. But that didn't bother her, she had taken on Krogans before. Albeit, not very close to them, but she had still seen them crashing to the floor from her rifle shot. But she was still cautious of the giant lizard-man in front of her.

“I'm glad you enjoyed it,” Ember remarked, staring up at the huge alien.

“I did. So, what do you want from me?”

“I'm searching for a Quarian. She has information on someone that I need.”

“Why do you think I know where she is? Or care?”

“Because you're tracking down the man she's meeting.”

He snarled just at the mention of him. “So you want my help?”

“Well yeah, we can't find the Quarian we're searching for if you don't help. You could always use another bounty hunter at your side.”

He contemplated the thought for only a few moments. “Fine. I wouldn't want to mess with you, anyways.”

“So you believe me being Oblivion?” Ember asked quizzically.

He nodded once. “That I do. I've heard all the rumours, and you fit them.”

“Good. Finally, someone doesn't actually doubt me on it.” She gave a small glare at Kaidan.

“It was a normal reaction!” Kaidan said a little louder than needed.

“Yes, but why else would I be on an Alliance ship if I wasn't important?”

He shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Now, can you come with me to get who you're after?” Ember said, turning back to the Krogan.

“Sure,” He agreed. “Wrex, by the way.”

“Erm... Oblivion,” Ember said. She was unsure if she should give up her true name just yet.

“Keeping your name a secret?” Wrex said. “Eh, fine by me. Maybe I'll get it later,”

Ember just shrugged in response. Maybe he would.

They walked out of the huge C-Sec room with the officers watching them suspiciously to say the least. They went topside on the elevator and then went down to the Wards. The Wards were similar to how Ember last remembered them. Cramped, crowded, and dimly lit. It reminded her of Omega in many ways, except for the glaring orange that coated the city. They walked through a small door and were greeted by the one on the other side of the space opening. They had their weapons activated and as soon as they saw the small group of aliens, they started attacking. Guns flashed and cover was found under the barrage of bullets from the other side of the room.

But they had fallen soon enough. They looked distinctly like assassins, Omega had shown her just what they looked like. The group was exchanging small talk about who they were and why they were attacked, when Ember's omni-tool made a distinctive chime. A message had been sent. She opened it up with a sigh, not knowing who it was. But she was surprised to see that it was Garrus who had sent it.

_G: Hey, where are you?_

That question raised another. Where actually was she? She had to ask Wrex about where they were.

_E: Outside Chora's Den_

_G: K, on my way_

_E: Try to hurry up_

_E: And bring weapons_

_G: I will_

They waited for a few minutes before Garrus showed himself, and was moderately surprised to see his girlfriend with a Krogan next to her, but he knew nothing was going on. “Who's the Krogan?”

He spoke up before Ember could. “Bounty hunter. Wrex is my name.”

“Garrus,” He said, dipping his head a tiny amount.

Wrex nodded once and then let Ember speak. “Well, we've got to make it into Chora's Den to find the man Wrex was going to kill. That man has information on our mysterious Quarian. So, we need to make it through the club and then get some information out of him. I'm sure you're willing to help out,”

“That I am,” Garrus said, mocking pride, or at least that's what Ember thought he was doing.

They all walked over to the doors of the building, and then stood outside of it for a moment, clinging to the sides of the door to keep their lives when it opened. They had no idea of knowing if the people on the other side would be hostile or not, but didn't want to find out the hard way. They opened the door and a blast of gunfire came from the other side, and that confirmed their suspicions. When the firing stopped, the group rushed in and began to take out person after person with a variety of different weapons. Ember was forced to use her pistol, which was not something she was very happy about.

They made their way through the narrow hallways of Chora's Den that the public didn't see, and fought through more and more of the employees of the Bar. Blood began covering the walls as they made it further and further into the Den and soon they came upon a large room with turrets set up. A human sat at the back, a smile on his face. He whipped out his pistol and hid under his desk as he began firing off shots. Ember and the group sighed as more gunfire was heard and they began firing back. Kaidan was one of the people to destroy one of the turrets, and Wrex was the other.

Garrus ended up getting injured and Ember rushed over to him and slapped on Medi-gel to heal him up. But, finally, the turrets fell and the man surrendered. He dropped his gun and held up his hands. “Don't shoot!”

Ember kept her gun directed at the man. “Where's the Quarian you were going to meet?”

The man laughed. “Her? Oh, she's going to be dead in a few moments. Nobody meets the Shadow Broker.”

“I. Said. Where. Is. She.” Ember said through gritted teeth, the rage and anger in her voice surprising even Wrex.

“Wards. An alley just next to the Market once you make it down from the Presidium. But you'll never make it in time. She's a goner.”

“Not if we hurry!” Ember said, whipping around and beginning to jog until Wrex stopped her.

“Mind if I get to fulfil my contract?” He asked, his shotgun pulled out and his hand wrapped tightly around it.

Ember nodded. “I know the importance of a contract. Go for it, he's of no use to us anymore anyways.”

“Wai-” He attempted to say, before the shot of Wrex's shotgun fired right through his head, sending chunks of brain and blood sprawling all over the room.

“Alright, let's go.” Wrex said.

“You're still coming with me?” Ember asked, surprised.

He nodded once. “Why not? Do you not want me to stay? You said a little bit ago that you wanted a team.”

“Well, I'm not sure where all of you would go. The only ship I reside on is an Alliance vessel, so I have no clue where any of you would go. We could all get a trip back to Omega and continue bounty hunting there though...”

Wrex grunted. “That could work. Let's find this Quarian and continue our plan after.”

Ember nodded once in agreement. “Sounds like a plan.”

They ran out of the room at full speed, going as fast as they could to make it to the alley where the Quarian would be. More of the grunts that lined the Den began appearing once more, and they were shot down quickly. Ember had gone too far just to fail on saving the Quarian now. No, it had been too long. She rounded one more corner, and saw her. The Quarian.

She stood in the centre of the alley, which was quite large as buildings to Ember's left had a low overhang where they were stationed. Small aliens, which Ember knew by just looking at them that they were Salarians, walked over to her, weapons slung on their backs and side.

The Quarian looked around nervously at the Salarians, not noticing Ember or her group just at the top of the stairway. “Where's the Shadow Broker?” She asked firmly to the Salarians that were inching their way towards her.

“Fool.” One of them said. “You can't meet the Shadow Broker, nobody does. But, we will take that information off you regardless.”

The Quarian made a rash decision and threw something at the group. It exploded and some of the Salarians went flying into the distance. About two of seven.

Ember rushed down the stairs, with her party following as they all began firing upon the Salarians, with the mysterious Quarian firing off her simple pistol as well. Once they were all dead, Ember rushed over to the Quarian that seemed... familiar.

“Are you hurt?” She asked the Quarian.

She shook her head, panting slightly. “Thank you. If you hadn't been there...”

“It's alright. We've been looking for you for quite some time.”

“You have?” The Quarian blinked.

“We have. We heard it was important on stopping Saren. We need it.”

“Well, for saving my life, I will. But one question, who are you?”

She looked back at Garrus, and he shook his head. She knew what that meant. No saying her bounty hunter name. “Ember,”

“Can I ask for a full name?”

Ember nodded. “Ember'Xaelas nar Rayya,”

The Quarian's eyes went wide and she momentarily froze. “Keelah, Ember!” She said, wrapping her arms tightly around Ember's body. “I'm so happy I found you! Or, you found me!”

Ember chuckled, and awkwardly hugged the Quarian back. _Is it really who I think it is?_ “Can I ask for your name now?”

The Quarian looked at her, completely confused. “It's me, Tali.” She said, before resuming her hug.

Ember took her turn and her eyes went wide, she had finally met back up with her. Tali, after so long of not knowing if she was alive, or dead, she finally found her once more. Joy overtook her, and soft tears trickled down her cheeks from Tali's years of absence.

“Keelah, I'm so happy to see you!” She nearly sobbed. The rest of her group shuffled awkwardly as they looked on.

Ember had finally met her... lover... Ember's smile faded, and she escaped the hug. Tali reluctantly let her out of it, and then had a closer look at her lover. She gasped at what she saw. “Ember! What happened to your arm! And your visor! We need it fixed!” Her hand was touching Ember's crack on her visor, as one hand warily made its way down her arm.

“It's fine, Tali.” She said, sadness coating her voice. “I've kept it like this for... sentimental reasons...”

Tali sighed and nodded her head once in understanding. “I'm so happy to finally see you, babe!”

Garrus nearly choked. “Babe?” He asked, his voice suddenly going hoarse.

Ember whipped her head back to him, and then to Tali, and then finally back to Garrus. “Shit...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, as you just read, Ember finally met Tali once more. What I'm stuck on now, is what will happen to these two? Will Ember stay with Garrus, or go back to Tali?  
> What I'd like is if some of you could say what you'd like. This will completely impact the story though, so choose wisely.  
> You can say it here, or email me at: thelonesurvivorao3@gmail.com if you don't want anyone else to see your choice, or you don't have to partake in this at all, and just enjoy it either way. :)


	10. Spectres and Explinations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I still don't really know what I'm going to do with Garrus. Ember and Tali are getting back together, since almost everyone that reads this story wants it. Still got no idea what to do with Garrus. Don't worry though, I'll think of something.

“What is it?” Tali asked, her bright eyes staring through Ember's visor.

“Well...” Ember said, unsure of how she should lay on the news. “When you were gone... him and I got into a relationship...”

Ember could see her heart sink. “Wh... what?” the sadness in her voice punched a hole through her. “I've spent five years searching for you, always having you on my mind, and when I finally find you, you've gotten some Turian instead of trying to find me?” Tali yelled, her voice swelling with rage.

“Tali... please...” Ember said, wrapping her arms around the Quarian.

Tali slapped them away. “Please what? Please forgive me? Please accept it? You had five years to find me, and you spent that time fucking someone else?”

Ember shook her head furiously. “No! Well, once actually... Look, I only got him to attempt to fill the hole of you not being there with me!”

“Really?” Garrus said. “Is that true?”

Ember turned around to look at him. “It... it is. But that doesn't mean that the love we have isn't real!”

“But it was only made because you had lost someone else,” He shot back.

“Please, both of you, stop making this so difficult!” Ember yelled out to both of them. “Look at my decisions, and you tell me if you would have done the same thing if you were me.”

Both thought about it, but anger could still be plainly seen after they had done so.

“When I was captured, I was forced into slavery, when I made it out, I was cold and harsh to many people. Once I finally opened back up, I chose someone who I knew could protect me.”

“So I couldn't protect you?” Tali asked, still seething.

“You weren't there!” Ember yelled. “You weren't there, and I was alone and afraid. I needed someone to let me know I was alright, and I was safe, and I found someone who would! You were nowhere to be found, anywhere! You damn vanished! If I could've had you back, I would've without a second thought.” Ember screamed out, her voice beginning to crack, and it surprised both Tali and Garrus. “But you weren't. I could never find you, and I had so many things to worry about and deal with!”

Ember felt tears welling in her eyes, and she did her best to stifle a sob that threatened to erupt. Quickly, she turned to Kaidan, looking past Garrus and spoke loudly and clearly, even though her voice wavered and cracked throughout it. “Kaidan, take the group, including these two, to Anderson and Nihlus. Tell them we'll speak with the Council tomorrow. Give the group some place to stay on the Normandy or something. I need some time to think.”

Garrus looked sorry at that point, and she guessed he had forgiven her at least a little and he took a few steps towards her, but no, she wasn't ready to start forgiving yet. She needed some time by herself, nobody else with her, no one.

“Alone!” She yelled out, as Garrus extended his arms for a hug. She turned and ran off, giving one last look at the group before disappearing into the crowd in front of her.

She didn't know how far she had run, or for how long. Her feet ached, and her heart pounded as tears still fell behind her visor. She didn't know where she was, but when she looked up, she saw that she was about a sixth of the way down one of the wings of the Citadel. She saw a motel out in the distance, and she made it over to the small and quaint place. She sighed and stepped in, pulling out her credit chit. She sniffed once, and tried not do cry once more in public. But she knew it wouldn't be much to break that little repair before the flood of tears broke loose once more.

“Hey!” The motel owner, and receptionist, yelled. “No quarians allowed!”

“Really?” Ember asked, a sob nearly breaking free, but she could feel her anger coming back.

He sharply nodded once. “So get out!”

Ember's eyes narrowed down on the man and she pulled out her rifle and pointed it straight at his face. “Fucking give me a room or your brains will be the newest coat of paint for the building.” she snarled.

With his hands raised, he moved them slowly and then grabbed one of the few cards. “Here, take it!”

“If C-Sec makes it over here because of you, consider your life over. And maybe remove that policy, you'd get more customers.”

“And have less of a chance for a bullet to my brain,” he mumbled.

She didn't even want to respond to that and she walked swiftly up the stairs and looked down at the card. The number read '102' so that's where she was headed. She finally decided the elevator would be best to take after the third floor passed and she hadn't made it to where she thought would be the proper number.

She finally made it inside the room after however long it was, and she couldn't hold back anymore and burst into tears. She flopped onto the bed and cried for what seemed to be an eternity. But, finally, her tears subsided although her sadness hadn't left. She didn't know what time it was, but eventually she fell asleep. She wasn't even safe in her dreams. Nightmares of Garrus leaving her and Tali disappearing once more plagued her mind until it became unbearable. She wanted to scream out apologies, but they wouldn't be released, she watched in horror as her two loves left her forever.

Her eyes snapped open and she sat upright. She sighed and she realized it was all just a dream, but how would the real version turn out? Would her dreams come true? She crawled off her bed, her strength still waning. Her omni-tool sounded off and she looked curiously at it. A message had been sent, and she was surprised to find that she had eleven more that had been sent over the course of however long she had slept. She checked them and read them slowly.

_G: Uhh, hey... look, I'm sorry about what happened. I was colder than I should have been. Just making it back to the Normandy now, and I'm saying I miss you._

_G: Hey, me again. I don't know where you are, but could you please return? That other quarian has been giving me death threats for the past hour and I think she might actually go through with it._

_G: Babe, I know you'll read this sometime. Everything's really quiet right now, everyone, even that quarian, Tali, went to sleep. Just miss you is all. Hard to get some sleep without you next to me and knowing your still on the Citadel. You haven't left right? Love you, G_

_G: Still can't get sleep. I hope you have though, and good morning._

_G: So Tali still hasn't calmed down since last night, and she's still giving me an ice cold glare, saying she only wants to speak with you. She_ did _accept food from us though, which is a start I guess._

_G: Anderson's been worried sick about you. Just wanted to say that I think you should come back, for all our sakes._

_G: Ok, I know you're upset but please answer. It's been a total of eleven hours and none of which you've replied. Please make contact with those who like you, and love you._

_G: I gave Tali your omni's message address so she'll be sending something to say to you any second now. But she actually smiled at me when I gave it to her. I guess she might not kill me after all._

She scrolled through Garrus' touching messages and then one caught her eye.

_T: Hey babe. Can we... speak alone later when you're done with your Council business? I have some things I'd like to talk with you about. Your turian told me that you haven't been answering him all night, so I won't rush you on this one. Just please consider my offer._

_T: Hope you're still alive, the Council stuff is starting in an hour._

_K: Hey Ember. I did as you asked and got the whole team back, as I'm sure Garrus told you. He seems like a nice guy. Anyways, the Council business starts in around forty minutes so I think you should get yourself in high gear._

_A: Hello Ember. The Council stuff is starting in only a matter of minutes. You need to make it here soon, as making the Council upset is not the wisest option, especially to someone trying to redeem their race. Just make it to the Presidium as fast as you can and drop by the Council tower. We'll be there. ~Anderson_

Ember's heart skipped a beat. She was late; on the most important day of her life no less. She looked around her, and was relieved to find that she had everything still on her so packing wasn't a problem, fortunately. She was at the door before it could even open and she stood awkwardly for the lesser part of a second before she was out the door and into the elevator. What seemed to be an eternity later, she finally made it to the small reception area with the manager worked and flew the keycard in his direction. He ducked before the card struck the way and fluttered almost drunkenly to the ground. She was out the door before he could even get back up.

From what time it looked to be, it was perhaps midday. The clock was ticking though, so she had no time to stop and check. Only seconds had passed by, until she breathed out a sigh of relief. A small hovercar station stood not too far away. With her heart pounding, and her mind racing, she made it to the station as fast as her legs would carry her. The terminal was unused, and nobody seemed to need it, so she instantly began typing out her destination and what info she needed into the machine. Finally, she had to insert her credit chit, and she did so with haste. It was in and then back out almost before the machine could make the transfer.

Only a moment later, and the door to the hovercar hissed as it opened up and Ember leaped inside before closing it and waiting to arrive back at the Presidium.

* * * * *

Tali walked up the steps to the presidium behind everyone else. She didn't want to be with a bunch of strangers whether they had worked with Ember or not. She only hoped Ember would be willing enough to take her up on her offer. There was so many things she didn't know had happened to her, and most of them she still didn't. She had jumped to conclusions far too fast than what was normal of her, but she supposed it made sense. She hadn't seen her lover who she had been searching for non-stop for five years, and when they finally found one another, her lover had moved on.

But she didn't deserve the treatment she gave her. It must've punched through her heart and nearly shattered it. If she could get Ember to go to one of the restaurants on the Citadel, they could speak of what had happened to one another and amend things. But that still left if she was going to go back to herself, or her new lover; the turian. She huffed just thinking about him. She was sure he was a good enough guy, but for all the good values he must have, she didn't like him. What he did, the things he had said which were in no way comforting to her, and that he had taken Ember from her as she was out searching the stars for her. Maybe once the dilemma that all three of them found themselves in was resolved, she might attempt to become friends with him. But now, he was going to remain at 'just under neutral'.

The other turian was something though. If she remembered his name correctly... Nihlus she believed it was. He was a spectre and had said many good things about Ember. But there was one thing she didn't understand. Oblivion. Most of the people she spoke with called Ember, Oblivion. That was something she needed to ask about if Ember would even accept her offer. Nihlus seemed to respect her more than most others had, and the pilot of the amazing ship she got to spend time in, the _Normandy_ , did as well. He seemed to be really good friends with her, and that was easy enough to guess as to why. He was a pilot that knew a lot about ships, and she was in love with ships for so long.

She didn't know if she had changed on that part of her, but she knew many other things had. Her visor had cracked from something bad enough to keep it as a sentimental, and her entire right arm was made of Geth material. She shuddered just thinking about those horrible AI. If they had been moulded into the form of a quarian, you probably wouldn't be able to tell if it wasn't real or not. Just what had happened to her during those five years?

She walked up the stairs a few paces behind everyone else. They all seemed friendly enough, even Ember's turian. She had taken a liking to Kaidan the most during her times though. He was just so fascinating, what with his biotic abilities, and the few stories he actually decided to tell. He seemed to be a really kind person, honestly. The type of person that would always be at your side no matter what, even through hardship. Ashley seemed to be the same kind of loyalty, but she was much more militarized than Kaidan was, and hopefully, Ember as well. But she couldn't know how much Ember had changed. When they had really last seen one another and got to speak more than words created by hatred and desperation was back on that colony they had lived on together.

That was one thought that never left her mind, the colony. If they had chosen any different one, or left when they had just the right amount of credits... But there was nothing she could do to change what had happened so long ago. And maybe once everything had been worked out... she wouldn't want to. Ember had certainly come across something really important to even be considered to be allowed into the Council's tower. That information she had gathered was certainly the only reason she was found. If she didn't have it, or saved the memory bank when she had the chance... she would've never been found and never would've seen Ember again. She would have had to move on just like she had.

The tower to the Council was very impressive to say the least. Not as much as the Normandy, but for Tali, ships were better than buildings. It was the most prideful thing in the Presidium, which itself is extremely prideful. Just how spacious the entire place was astonished her, she bet that a thousand quarians could live in the ring and hardly ever see one another. But how would it be when they got their homeworld back? She shook her head to get rid of that thought. It was still many years before they would attempt to reclaim their homeworld, unfortunately. She didn't know the entire reason she was going into the giant tower to meet the Council, but she knew it was important. Maybe she could attempt to speak with the Council herself and try to get help from them? She doubted it would work, but maybe she would have a solid answer on whether the other races would help with that.

They all stepped inside the large tower, and climbed into the elevator. Fortunately, it was spacious enough to hold everyone without it seeming to be too crowded. Tali still made sure to be on opposite sides of the elevator from Ember's turian. Once they were out, Tali once again began to marvel at the space that the tower was. It looked big from the outside, but from the inside... a whole different story. There was a large space in the back where she assumed the council would be, a large cylindrical dip was also right beside it, but she had no idea what it really was.

The crowd walked to the edge of the platform they stood on and stopped. Tali wiggled her way to the front, and everyone knew why. She had that vital piece of information that was needed to stop Saren. Why Saren needed to be stopped, she didn't know, well maybe she did. There was some pretty interesting information on the little hunk of memory she got from the geth. Something about the 'conduit' and 'the Reapers'. With a name like 'The Reapers' though, she knew it was something bad.

“Welcome,” The asari council member spoke. “I am Tevos, for those who don't know. To my left is Valern, and to my right is Sparatus. Would all people who are not directly involved with the investigation please move back?”

Some of the members nodded, but all who didn't have a direct connection to what was going on moved back. The few people who were there she recognized easily though. There was Captain Anderson, Nihlus, herself, and then one person she didn't actually know or notice. He was a human as well and he stood a little taller than Anderson. His mouth was curved into a frown and his clothes were of an ugly beige colour that didn't suit him at all. His hair was dark, but Tali could see some greys that showed themselves, and all of them were slicked back into an unusual hair fashion.

Those who stayed up front found themselves a few small terminals, one for each of them. She Tali knew what they were. They were just microphones.

The salarian councillor looked at Tali, and spoke. “You must be Oblivion, come on and step forwards.”

Tali looked over to Anderson and then back to the Council. “No, I am not... Oblivion. That's someone else you're waiting for.”

“Oh,” the salarian said. “Sorry for the mistake.”

Tali just raised her hand up, showing her palm, before letting it fall back to her side.

“So Oblivion is not here yet?” The turian, Sparatus, said.

“No, she is not. We'll have to wait a little for her to arrive.” Anderson said from the other side of the gap between the council and others.

They only had to wait for a few moments before the door in the back slid open. “Wait!” A familiar voice yelled out. “I'm here!”

Tali looked to see Ember running as fast as she could up to the others, she was panting and looked like she had been running a lot.

“Are _you_ Oblivion?” Sparatus asked, unamused.

She nodded and spoke between her attempt at getting more air. “Just call me Ember,”

Sparatus nodded once and then looked down to his small terminal before punching in a few things and then waiting. The giant cylindrical dip in the tower suddenly flickered to life and showed the image of a huge turian only seconds later. “What is it?” the turian with familiar-toned voice asked.

“Saren,” Tevos started. “You are being summoned to a trial. It is against you, and you having gone rogue.”

“What?” Saren yelled out, obviously infuriated by the truth. “I have never betrayed the Council, or those who work with it!”

Nihlus took a step forwards. “Then explain your reasoning behind trying to kill me on Eden Prime!”

The councillors blinked and looked at one another. “Is this true?”

Ember, Nihlus, Anderson and even Tali nodded. Saren shook his head. “I never did such a thing! Nihlus is clearly not thinking correctly. I was never even on the planet.”

“Yes you were!” Ember said before anyone else could speak. “I saw you, and you had a gun pointed right behind Nihlus' head and was about to pull the trigger. But I shot first, and the bullet went through your hand.”

“Pfft.” Saren denied. “You did no such thing. My hand is fine. Even if it wasn't, you couldn't get me. It's nearly a month after the incident.”

Ember glared at the hologram of the Saren. Oh how she wished that it wasn't just a hologram.

The councillors looked to one another for only a moment before nodding and then looking back to the crowd. “We decide that that is insufficient evidence to remove Saren of his spectre-hood.”

“I say that is also insufficient evidence.” The beige-wearing man agreed.

Ember glared at him too. If only shooting was allowed in the tower...

“Is that all the evidence you have?” Valern asked.

“No,” Tali spoke. “When I was going through the galaxy, I happened upon some geth. I was poor and needed something to sell, and I couldn't allow geth to walk around. So when one was alone, I disabled it and got something from its memory banks.”

“Probably just a memory of why the geth hate you,” Saren retorted.

Tali pushed through and downright ignored his comment. “Anyways, the voice you'll hear is one that you all certainly know.”

Tali opened up her omni-tool and flicked through some of the audio files she had within it and found the one she was looking for. She played it as soon as she could.

“Eden Prime was a major victory, and we are one step closer to finding the conduit.” The recorded voice of Saren said.

Then an unfamiliar voice spoke up. “And one step closer to the return of the Reapers...”

Tali powered down her omni-tool and looked directly at Saren's hologram and smiled.

“That was fake!” Saren said, his voice sounding exactly like the audio clip's. “Like I said, I was never even on Eden Prime, or near it.”

The councillors then looked at one another and shook their heads. “That is undeniable evidence, you, Saren Arterius, is found guilty, and hereby stripped of your Spectre status.”

Saren snarled. “That will be one mistake you'll wish you never made...”

Ember laughed at his threat. “What are you going to do? Get shot in the hand again?”

He roared and slammed down on the little pad in front of him that everyone knew was there before the hologram flickered out.

“Who was the other voice in the audio?” Anderson asked after a few moments of awkward silence.

“I know who that is...” Tevos said slowly. “Matriarch Benezia, one of our most respected Matriarchs. What's she doing working with Saren?”

“I have no idea...” Sparatus said slowly. “Well that's all we wanted to keep you for. Anderson will say more when you leave.”

“No, no,” Tevos said. “You're forgetting something.”

He grumbled but nodded. “Ember, would you please step onto the platform in front of you?”

Ember looked to Anderson and he nodded with a smile on his face, before she did so. She took long strides until she was firmly on the platform. She saw one of the councillors hit a button on their terminal and the whole platform began moving. Ember was a little startled at first, but she knew what was happening. She was becoming a Spectre. The platform continued to expand until she was a little under halfway across the gap that separated the council members and her band of aliens and friends willing to help her.

“Ember, are you ready for what is going to happen?” Tevos asked kindly.

Ember didn't need to think on it for more than a second. “Yes, I am.”

Tevos smiled and Ember could clearly see it was genuine.

“So, as you know, you have been picked from a small list of people to be a Spectre.” Sparatus began. “You have shown yourself capable, Akuze being a prime example, and show great courage and strength at all times.”

“By accepting this, you will be a protector of peace, the right hand of the council, and allowed free reign of Council space. These do not come lightly, as you will handle tasks deemed of importance to us.”

“And, with you being the first quarian Spectre, you will be upholding the reputation of your entire race. That will mean you have a lot to hold up to, and many important decisions will be made regarding this.”

Sparatus spoke once more, after Tevos and Valern had. “Are you willing to become a Spectre?”

Ember nodded. “I am. I will uphold your rules, and do what you ask of me. I will not fail you, and I will always make the decision I deem the best.”

Tevos nodded. “Then from now on, you are officially a Spectre. May you wear the title proudly.”

Ember bowed and said a small thanks to the council members. They nodded. Tali took her chance and spoke up. “Erm, excuse me?” she spoke as confidently as she could, which wasn't much.

“Yes?” Tevos asked kindly.

“If Ember proves herself worthy of her title as Spectre, would you be willing to help the reclaiming of our homeworld in the future?”

The councillors seemed a little stricken by the question, but she ended up answering it anyways. “Perhaps. Maybe when we can spare it, and when Ember has redeemed your race.”

“I thank you for at least considering it.” Tali said with a slight bow.

Tevos nodded and then, with the rest of the council, walked off.

* * * * *

Tali sat down at one of the tables, and Ember did the same. She was so glad that Ember decided to join her and at least speak after what happened the time when they last saw face to face and spoke with one another. The blue of the sky around the Presidium was beautiful to say the least. The water below drifted with a slight breeze that had been made from... something. But it was nice. Tali certainly liked it, and she was sure Ember did too.

“So, what's this all about?” Ember asked. Tali could tell that she wasn't the happiest about speaking with her, but she would remedy that. She _had_ known her all her life, so it shouldn't be too difficult.

“I just...” Tali started. “I want to apologize. I'm sorry for being as icy as I was when we last spoke to one another, but you have to see it from my point of view, please.”

Ember remained like stone.

“I had been looking for you non-stop for five years. Travelling to all the horrid places you _might_ just be at. Everything I did was to find you. So when I found you, I was beyond happy. I had finally found you, or you found me I guess, and we could finally be with one another once again. I had so many chances to just give up and continue on without you, but I didn't. I was determined to see it through, and then I found that all my work... couldn't get us back. Your turian had entered your life and replaced me. I was angry at that, I still am, but I want to apologize for lashing out.”

Tali could sense Ember's stern face softening. “Right. I'm sorry too. I just... I had a really tough time. If I could've had you back, I would have for all the credits in the world. But I couldn't. I could never find you. You were as invisible as could get on your search for me.”

“What made you stop?” Tali asked when she felt it was right.

“Garrus. When I first made it onto the Citadel, he was kind and caring, and after what I had lived through, I needed someone back in my life. Someone who could protect me; give me that safe feeling I needed.”

“What made you need that?”

“When... when we split from one another back on that colony... I was captured and forced into slavery. Sexual slavery.”

Tali brought a hand up to the little ball of light that flickered brighter whenever she spoke as she gasped. “Keelah, I'm so sorry.”

Ember smiled a little, Tali could tell. She always tilted her head just the slightest bit when she did. “Thanks, but it wasn't your fault. I was sold twice. Once to another group of slavers, and then to some gang on Omega. After I was sold to the gang, I was tasked on getting an old geth up and running to help them out, seeing as how I couldn't escape if I wanted to, I worked on the geth. Very reluctantly though.”

Tali laid a hand in Ember's lap. “I can imagine.”

“Then, another gang attacked the base I was at. I had nothing to fight with, and I was noticed. They threw a grenade at me, and I was just a little too slow to get away from it. The grenade shredded a lot of my leg and my entire arm was gone. They weren't able to get anything proper to attach back on, like a good prosthetic, so they took the mostly undamaged geth and placed its arm on me.”

“What about the crack in your visor?”

“That was when I went to a different colony. Akuze.”

“I remember hearing one of the councillors speak of that, what was it?”

“A colony, as I said. Somewhere out in space, I've kind of forgotten. But the colony had gone dark, and the Alliance hired me to help out. They wanted more firepower, and they chose me. I have no idea why though. Anyways, when we got there, we were attacked on our way to the colony. Thresher maws were found to have inhabited the planet, and then they killed off all the colonists. We tried to make it there, after the first one we killed. Seven marines died fighting the damn beast, and three more in the shuttle crash. When we made it out of the battle, there was three of us left. Ramirez, Jacqueline, and myself. We fought two more threshers on our way to the colony, and Jacqueline and then Ramirez died in the attacks. One after the other. I was the only one alive, and this is what I have to remember them.” Ember said, pointing to the crack. “It's all I have left besides memories.”

Tali was heart stricken. Ember had endured so much more than she had. When she made it off, everything was fine for her.

“Well, you certainly got the worst of us. My adventure seems like a... ugh, what's that human term?”

“Walk in the park?” Ember guessed.

“Yes, that's it!” Tali said, nodding. “Once you were gone, I was stricken with grief. I didn't know if you were alive or dead, or how I could find you. But I did all I could, and spent years going from planet to planet, city to city, and from job to job to find you. When I got the information from the geth, I was going to sell it to the Broker so I could get information to find you. Look how that turned out, we found one another and I still kept the information.”

Ember smiled. “I'm so happy to have you back.”

“And I'm happy to be back.” Tali said as they hugged one another and did what they hadn't done for years. Rest their helmets against one another. They looked deep into each other's glowing eyes, and found peace there. They stayed like that for what must have been minutes, but it seemed like too short a time.

“What are you going to do about the turian?” Tali asked finally, after they had broken the hug and 'kiss'.

Ember frowned, and Tali knew it. Simple actions like that weren't going to confuse her. Ember always looked down a little when she frowned. “I'll find some way to break it to him.”

“Do you really love him?”

Ember nodded. “It is almost what I feel with you.”

Tali frowned as well. Could she really make Ember break her turian's heart for her? And if she did, could those two still remain friends?


	11. A New Captain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I have something planned out that I think will be pretty cool to write out. So no worries on that part. I hope a new chapter will be up in a couple of days.

Garrus didn't know what to think. Was Ember going to leave him for Tali? Was she going to come back to him? Would Tali do something drastic to him if that ended up being the case? He sighed as the door of the elevator on the Normandy opened up. He didn't know the ship at all, but he would discover its rooms over time. He knew CIC had the galaxy map and then down the bridge there was where the pilot sat. Other than that though, he knew nothing of the ships layout. Neither did the krogan that had accompanied Ember on the all-out assault of Chora's Den. He seemed like an alright enough person to be around, just never when he wasn't in a good mood.

If he was to be completely honest with himself, he really missed Ember. She had only been gone for less than a day, and already his thoughts stayed on her. Like where was she now? She had gone with Tali somewhere on the Citadel so that they could speak alone. Either they were repairing what had happened only around half a day ago, or something else, and worse. He only hoped the former. He tried to think back to what Ember had said on how they met, if she did at all. Those were topics she rarely ever spoke of, even to him. The elevator whirred quietly as Garrus and the krogan, Wrex, went down to the lowest deck, and where he had heard there was a Mako.

The loved those vehicles. They were always used for military purposes, or exploring the stars, but it was still a force to be reckoned with if encountered in combat. He had even heard some skilled drivers took down a thresher maw with one. He shuddered slightly at the thought, Ember had been more than descriptive on those monstrosities when she came back from Akuze, and spoke of it at length. Ember... somehow, his thoughts always seemed to return to her. But he knew why. He loved her, and there was no other way around it. He had even began to say it a few months back, and thankfully, she had too.

But with her somewhere still on the Citadel, and what had happened a night ago still unresolved, he wasn't sure what he could say. He had a feeling that Ember would go back to Ember, but there was that small little flame that told him otherwise. His best attempts at extinguishing the flame had failed, and it only seemed to burn more bright and intense when he tried anything. But, he would have his answer eventually, and in the mean time... he needed to see what he could do to the Mako in terms of upgrades.

* * * * *

“How do you think he would take the news?” Tali asked, her hand entwining with Ember's.

She pondered the thought for only a moment before she spoke her answer. “Not well. I know he wants to believe that I will return to him and leave you behind.”

“Perhaps we could have a triangle?” Tali suggested. “Both Garrus and I would be in a relationship with you. You'd keep us both,”

“But do you really want to know someone else hugs and kisses and romances your lover while you aren't around?”

That didn't actually cross her mind until it was mentioned. She hardly knew the turian, so maybe if they had had a chance to really know one another, then it could be completely sorted out?

“Well... no, not really. But I hardly know the guy, maybe if I had a chance to really know him, maybe over the course of a week or two, I'd be more accepting of that.”

Ember smiled a little. “I can manage that. I'll always be by your side,”

“Don't go around saying that, or I'll lose you again!” Tali shoved Ember playfully.

Ember countered with a fierce hug, as her arms wrapped tightly around Tali's waist. “I'll never leave you again, I promise.”

Tali could only smile.

It was a few more hours before they finally walked through the doors of the Normandy, and Tali once again got to see the ship her lover had lived on for months. Knowing that she had spent hundreds of hours in this ship relaxed her more than one would think. There was still something Tali was waiting to see, that she didn't go looking for herself: the drive core. She had asked about it of course, and how it was regarded as one of the best around, and she somewhat believed it. There was always that doubt until she saw it for her own eyes that she contained within her. Most of the time it proved unnecessary, but there has been times when it proved that it was correct.

Ember was more than happy to lead the way down to the giant reactor core of the ship, and Tali guessed she had spent much of her time there herself. It was always a burning passion that she had... working on ships. It didn't matter what it was really, unless it was one of the cleaning jobs. Those were the ones she didn't like. But anything else really was good with her. Her favourite job though, was working on a ship's core. Making sure it ran at optimal capacity and the sort. Tali knew exactly how that was, as she loved it as well. She had seen enough stars in her life that she didn't need to see any more on space voyages.

When Ember opened up the elevator door and stepped outside, her and Tali's eyes went directly at Garrus. They looked away only moments after, of course, but it had been done all the same. Ember would speak with Garrus soon enough. Plus, he seemed to be completely wrapped up in his work on some large vehicle. Ember only opened up a single door just next to the elevator and stepped inside, with Tali following feet behind her. The first thing Tali heard was the large rumbling of the core itself. _Something making that much noise_ has _to be huge,_ she deducted in her thoughts. Ember reached back and grabbed Tali's hand and pulled her along a little faster, and Tali almost lost her footing.

They made it through one more set of doors, and Tali's eyes went wide at the sight of the core. Ember beamed at her, with her bright white eyes saying “Yeah, I did the same thing you did. Don't worry.” It was huge. Larger than the Rayya's was by about three times. Element Zero spiralled and danced around the core as it was waiting to be used, and it was certainly a sight to behold. Tali shook her head in disbelief, was this really real? How expensive was the core, and how long did it take to make? Ember must've known what she was thinking because she answered the questions only moments after Tali had asked them in her mind.

“Yes, it certainly _is_ really expensive. Couple million credits I believe. Maybe a billion. It took around three years to make and perfect before it was fitted onto the Normandy.”

“How did you...?” Tali attempted to ask, but was almost entirely awestruck by the massive reactor.

“I asked the same things you did.” Ember smiled. “Plus I think I still know you well enough,”

Tali nodded and found herself still at a loss of words. The drive core was the most expensive and powerful she had been near in her entire life. Only a few of the thousands of ships matched the Normandy's drive core. Ember said nothing, knowing exactly what she was going through, as she had done the same. Tali settled by the terminal Ember had worked on for month after month while aboard the ship, and immediately began to work on trying to improve the engine more than what Ember had already done. She doubted it could be done though, as Ember was much better at making the engines of ships run at more efficient rates, while with Tali it was shields.

Ember only chuckled as she walked off, leaving Tali to work on the engines and meet the current person she had come to know quite well. But, she had one person left to see, and that would be a little later. She was going to go and see how her favourite pilot was up to in the mean time. When she opened up the elevator she was surprised to find Anderson standing in it. He seemed just as surprised that he had just found Ember, but the expression was gone quickly. “Ah, Ember, I was looking for you.”

“You have been?”

He nodded once. “I have. I want to speak with you in the conference room. Meet me there when you can.”

“Ok, I will. Just what do you want me there for?”

“Like I said, I want to speak with you in the conference room. Here is _not_ the conference room.”

Ember frowned but agreed anyways. Not like she could really get him to say in the elevator if he didn't want to. He smiled and then stepped out to go speak with some of the members of the ship she knew to love. It was one that she really didn't want to leave, but most likely would. A ship like this isn't one the Alliance would willingly give up, even to a spectre. Everyone in the Alliance had been kind to her though, but she was quite sure that still meant she wouldn't end up owning a ship nearly this good. She had enough money to get a ship all on her own and she had enough people on her side for a crew. She had spoken to Wrex and Tali, knowing they would join. Garrus would most likely do so as well, and Kaidan seemed like he would if he really could leave.

But then there was Ashley. She seemed nice and all, and she was completely thankful about Ember and Nihlus being there and rescuing her along with Kaidan, but Ember knew that she didn't like aliens. She had never delved into the subject, but she knew that they were not the most liked by her. It was such a shame too, as Ashley was one hell of a warrior and one that should be feared on the battlefield during any fight. Maybe she could be talked into it though. She could do it, as she hadn't been tasked with anything else even after she was known to still be alive. But would she really want to. To be under the command of someone not human... she would most likely say 'no'.

She clicked the button to go to the CIC and off the slow elevator went. What was it with slow elevators? She had heard that on earth more than a hundred years ago they went much faster. But it only gave her more time to think, and to make up what might happen. Like why was Anderson wanting to speak with her in the conference room? Why not anywhere else on the ship? It troubled her with what was going on, but she knew that it would all be found out soon enough and that she only had to wait.

Once she stepped out, she was greeted by a few people, and she returned the greeting to those who said it. She wanted to walk off and speak with Joker, but she wasn't really sure if she had the time for it. They often got into huge conversations with one another and a few hours had passed by the time they decided to end it. She shook her head a few times, no, she wouldn't go and speak with Jeff. Not now anyways. She walked off to the conference room immediately, and was surprised to find Nihlus inside, flipping through a holopad, his eyes locked onto it.

“Oh, hey Nihlus. What are you doing here?”

Nihlus turned to look at Ember, his mandibles moving to mimic a smile. “You'll know when Anderson says it.”

Ember sighed. “Do you know how long he'll be?”

“Say five minutes?” Nihlus guessed.

“I only hope so...”

The five minutes went by at an unbearably slow time. Every minutes was filled with the same questions she had already been asking herself, and not knowing the answer.  _What does Anderson really want? Why is Nihlus here? What is Anderson going to say?_ These, and many more questions, showed up every time when she dismissed the previous. It was something that she could just tackle Nihlus to get the information she needed. But she didn't. She didn't think she could either. What would Nihlus do as a result? That was a much worse question, and one she almost knew the exact answer to.

Anderson opened up the door and looked on for only a moment before walking inside, the door sliding shut behind him. Before Ember could even say anything, he held up his hand to stop her. She begrudgingly complied. “Now, I know you're not happy about Nihlus and I withholding information from you, but it was needed. Him and I have something very important to talk to you about.”

Ember only slightly tilted her head.

“We have been thinking... since you're a spectre, and that you're going to hunt down Saren, we've decided upon something.” He added before stepping back for Nihlus.

“Anderson has decided to give the ship to you, as well as the crew. This will now be your ship, and everyone will follow what rules you put on it. As for me, I have decided to accompany you on your adventure in tracking down Saren.”

Ember was shocked. Was it not ten minutes ago that she had thought she would have to buy her own ship as this one would never be given to her? “I don't know what to say. I'm... I'm completely at a lose of words.”

They both chuckled. “I'm sure you are. Most people would be with such a crazy day for them.”

“You don't know the half of it.” Ember said, resting a hand on her hip. “But why are you giving up the ship, Anderson?”

“I've been at this whole captain thing far too long. It's time newer people take to the stars and us older people stay behind and relax. And I'm sure that after being on this ship for months, you wouldn't accept anything worse than what the Normandy has to offer.”

“What about the crew?”

“They know. All of them are completely willing to serve under you, even Presley, and you know him and his dislike of aliens.”

Ember nodded sharply. “I do. I only hope he'll be fine with serving an alien, and dealing with them on the ship as well.”

“He knows what he's going to live with, and it won't bother him too much. All your non-human crew members have to do is just be nice and civil, and it will go fine.”

“But what about the Alliance? Won't they be unhappy that one of your most prized ships flies off with a quarian as captain and not a human?”

Anderson shook his head. “No, Admiral Hackett knows of my decision and he respects it. You, and the Alliance members aboard this ship, are allowed to do more than just Alliance work now. You are doing Council work. And, this ship was made between the Alliance  _and_ the Council in the first place, so it doesn't seem that too difficult to understand.”

She thanked Anderson as many times as she could before when she knew it would get annoying. She thanked Nihlus as well almost as many times for going on the adventure with her. Both Ember and Nihlus saw Anderson out as he left the docking bay and went into the C-Sec headquarters, before walking back into the ship. She was still just so shocked by it all, and how everything had happened so fast.

She had become a spectre, resolved what had happened with Tali, became the new captain of the Normandy, and even had Nihlus join her. But there was one thing she had to do before they left, and he would be seen her speech of becoming captain. She walked through the CIC and across the bridge over to where Jeff was. He gave her a small smile and spoke before she could.

“After the intercom?”

Ember smiled, even if he couldn't see it and nodded a little. “I am. So you know of my rise to captain in this ship.”

He nodded once. “I do, Anderson actually told be first before anyone else. It was nice to have that really, us being friends and all. I said 'yes' as soon as he asked if I would remain here.”

Ember knelt down a little and hugged him softly. “Thanks. That means so much to me.”

He returned it as best as he was able in his chair. “Don't worry about it. I know you'll do great. You hardly have to look over anything from what I've heard, just the people who just got aboard, which is only your ragtag group of squad members.”

She smiled and then grabbed the intercom microphone before preparing herself for her speech. She had done it quicker than she had thought she would and began speaking before she knew it.

“Crew of the Normandy, this is your new captain speaking, Ember'Xaelas vas Normandy I guess it's going to be from now on. We have a mission ahead of us that won't be easy. Danger will no doubt be a factor in this, and I thank you all for sticking through this with me. Our hunt for Saren will take us all across the galaxy, and you will not have as much shore leave as I'm sure you all want. But,” she added. “this has to be done. The entire galaxy is resting upon our shoulders, and we need to see this through. I have no doubts in your abilities and loyalty towards me, as I have just the same amount as you, and we will work together in this quest to complete it. Everyone matters, and everyone helps. I thank you all for listening to this, and Keelah se'lai.”

“Quite the speech there Ember, it was a good one.” Jeff remarked as she handed back the intercom microphone.

“Thanks. I'm just so happy everyone was fine with me being captain. I know everyone's going to miss Anderson though.”

He nodded. “They will, most likely forever, just like you do. But we know you'll do just as good, even if you have no experience. You're a leader, and everyone of us knows it. You can do it.”

Ember couldn't stop herself from giving him another hug before running off down the bridge to speak with her special turian who has been in limbo for far too long.

* * * * *

“...and Keelah se'lai” Ember finished over the intercom before shutting it off. So Ember was now the captain of the Normandy. Would've never thought that would happen, Garrus had to admit to himself. He only hoped she would come down and see him soon enough.

“Well Ashley,” Wrex grunted from his position of leaning up against the wall. “How does it feel to be serving an alien.”

“What do you mean?” The marine shot back.

“Well both of us know you don't like aliens very much, so how does it feel to be serving under one?”

“Ember's a friend of mine, regardless if she's an alien or not. If she tells me to die for her, I will. I have no problem being under her command.”

Wrex chuckled. “I'm glad you finally have loyalty to someone who isn't human.”

Ashley only ignored his comment.

Garrus rolled his eyes, and leaned against the Mako. He had done what he could so far, and it would be noticeable the next time it was used. The thrusters had been improved, so they should go a little higher than before. He was honestly proud of his work and he patted the vehicle gently, this would be the one thing he could devote all his time to working on.

Not long after, Ember emerged from the elevator and walked right over to Garrus His heart started pumping faster and faster at what she might say. She stood up straight, and looked at Garrus dead in the eye before calmly saying, “We need to talk, alone.”

That was never a good sign. Not in movies, and Ember was no exception. Whenever that was said, it was either that she was really mad about something or she was sad about something, and the only way to find out without her fists being involved, is to nod and walk somewhere private. He did what he had done before, nod, and then opened up the Mako's door and stepped inside. Ember followed only moments behind him.

“What is it?” Garrus asked, his mandibles twitching.

Ember let out a sigh, before beginning to speak. “So, Tali and I are back together...”

Garrus literally felt his heart sink.

“But, she's willing to allow me to show affection to you, and be in a kind of 'love triangle'.”

He was surprised about that. He knew that Ember liked both Tali and himself, but would he really want to share her? He guessed he would have to. “Well, that's better than nothing I guess.”

“On one condition,” Ember continued. “She only really wants to be in a love triangle if she knows you. So that means you'll need to spend a couple weeks with her at the minimum.”

“What? Why can't she just be fine with it as it is?”

“She just doesn't want someone she doesn't know romancing her lover.”

“And why can't you talk her out of that?”

“I was actually the one who mentioned that part, and... I'm on her side with this.”

“Why?!” Garrus said a little louder than Ember would've liked.

“I owe it to her, and I missed her for far too long. I wanted her all this time, and now I finally have it back.”

Those words hurt. He knew she didn't really mean them to do damage, but they did regardless. And unfortunately, he found the damage feeding his anger. “I don't understand what makes me more important than her, that she gets to completely influence you just on the fact you spent some years apart from one another. It almost seems like you want to spend a few weeks without me! Telling her that, and then getting her to make me wait a few weeks before I can show my love once more!”

“No, Garrus,” Ember said, a little hastily, but still calm and collected. “I don't want to spend weeks without you, but I was surprised she would be willing to. So I mentioned it, and then she said she didn't want to be in a triangle without knowing you. It just wasn't in her personality to be like that.”

“But we wouldn't even really see one another. You're the centre of it all.”

“I know I am, but she said-”

“Did _she_ really say it, or was it you?”

“Garrus!” Ember yelled. “I can't believe you would think that! What has gotten into you? It's almost like you're jealous!”

“Jealous? Maybe I wouldn't be if that quarian wasn't keeping you all to herself!”

“She's not! And she has a name you know!”

“Not one that I care to know,” Garrus remarked.

Ember just looked at him after that. For seconds on end, before she spoke up once more. “You know what? I'm done with you and your shitty attitude. I don't know what's gotten into you, but maybe you need to find out what it is. You can forget 'us' for now, because from now to until you get rid of that attitude, we aren't together anymore.”

She stormed out of the Mako before Garrus could say another word.

Garrus kicked one of the seats and then sat down.  _What the hell did I just do?_ It was that damn anger he had. He didn't know why, but it turned from only a single flame into an inferno. And now he had to suffer the consequences...


	12. Realization

Ember stormed out of the Mako and walked to the elevator without saying a word to anyone or look away from her destination. _What the hell is his problem? I mean, he was always a little territorial, but Keelah..._ She walked into the elevator and pressed the button for the captain's room. She had never seen it before, but she knew that she was going to spend some time in it for now. It would take a several to reach the Mass Relay, so she figured she could just message Joker from her room and then just deal with what had happened. Even now she felt what anger she had warp into sadness. But she wouldn't let it get the best of her until she had already contacted Jeff.

“Now look what you did!” Ember heard Wrex yell to Ashley.

“Hey, I did nothing! That's Garrus' fault she's in a bad mood!” Ashley defended.

Wrex laughed. “You humans are more amusing than I once thought; defending yourself from jokes.”

Ashley sighed and must have rolled her eyes.

The elevator was far too slow for her, as it always was, and she decided that that was the time to contact Jeff. She clicked one of the small buttons on her suit and went into a private line with Joker. She steeled herself and cleared her throat before speaking. “Jeff, can you set a course for the Relay?” she cursed slightly, as her voice was a little raspy.

“Sure thing, Ember,” he said from the other side. If he had noticed, he didn't say anything, and it relieved Ember to no end.

As soon as she stepped out of the stupidly slow elevator, she flicked open her omni-tool and went straight to Tali.

_E: Tali, can you come up to the captain's cabin as soon as you can?_

What seemed to be an eternity passed by before she responded.

_T: Sure, what's going on?_

_E: Just please come up. I'll talk about it when you're here._

_T: Oh no, I'm going as fast as I can, babe._

She just flopped on the bed and waited for when Tali would open the door and walk in. But with the slow elevators, she knew it would take a while for her to arrive. Already, she felt tears form in her eyes and her sadness beginning to overwhelm her. But it needed to be done. Garrus couldn't just be like that without consequences. She wondered how he would apologize, and when.

Tali made it into the cabin what seemed to be forever later. Ember jumped up from her seat and walked over to her and stood in front of her.

“What's going on?” Tali asked.

Ember tried to speak but she found that she couldn't let them loose, and instead, tightly hugged her and began crying. Tali was a little shocked but returned the hug comfortingly. Ember couldn't control herself, and just let her tears stream out and across her cheeks. When the tears finally stopped, Ember collapsed onto the floor, sitting weakly. Tali got down to keep embracing with Ember and did things that almost seemed motherly.

“So, what _happened_ to you Ember?” Tali spoke softly.

Ember sniffled and then sat up a little more properly. “Garrus... Garrus happened.”

Tali frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

“He...” she sniffed. “He doesn't want to be with me if you're with me.”

“What?”

“Well, I mentioned that he would have to wait, and he got all angry. I had only seen him like that a few times, and it was whenever I...” she paused and stared out distantly. “It was whenever I mentioned I wanted to see you again.”

Tali's frown only deepened. “Then I guess a triangle won't work.”

Ember shook her head, still sniffling a little. “Not at all. I wonder if he's going to want to even stay on the Normandy.”

“Even if he leaves, you'll always have me.” Tali said, a smile spreading across her face.

Ember smiled a little too. “It's good to know I will have someone like you with me on this journey. I need it.”

“I wouldn't be anywhere else,” Tali spoke softly, hugging Ember once more.

Ember could only smile at the love she was receiving from Tali. She didn't need Garrus, as long as Tali was around. She didn't need anyone else, as long as Tali was around. And only now had she realized it.

She only needed to spend a few minutes with Tali, before she was fine once more. Although her fractured heart would need some time to heal, she knew it would do so quickly as long as she could see Tali whenever she needed. She bid Tali farewell sometime after she had allowed Tali to sleep up in the captain's room with her. After that, Ember went on with doing various little things in the room. Adjusting things to her liking here and there, and she almost missed the computer sitting at the desk, waiting for her. She found a little note on it too, and she assumed it was from Anderson.

_Hello Ember, the captain's room is all yours for the remainder of your time on the ship. If you check your email, you can find some leads on Saren. I wish you the best. ~A_

Ember smiled as she set down the note beside the small computer, and sat down in the surprisingly comfortable chair with it. Anderson was so sweet to her, and was like a father figure to her. Such a kind soul. She activated the little computer and logged into the extranet. She had conversation going with Anderson, the same on her omni-tool, and she found a new message from him.

_Hello new captain. I have just gotten some leads on where Saren could be, and where they could possibly lead to his location. First is Therum, a mining colony planet in the Knossos System. It is said to currently have Matriarch Benezia's daughter on it, researching Prothean technologies._

_Second is another colony called Feros, out in the Theseus System. It has been under siege by the Geth and they need help. I feel it is obvious to you why this is a lead._

_Third is Noveria. A space port out in the Pax System. The matriarch was last seen here, and we feel she could directly lead us to Saren himself._

_Choose whichever one of these you want to do, and we will all respect your decision. ~A_

Well, there she had it. Three different places to go to and all leading towards Saren. Where would she actually go first though? Would she go to stop the attack on Feros, where the Geth were? Maybe go off to Therum and get some information out of Benezia's daughter. She had no idea... but her crew would. That's what she would do. She would go down to the conference room and then get all her squad members to go with her. She would ask where they thought they would go. Now _that_ was a plan she could work with.

She walked out of the room and went down the extremely slow elevator as usual, and contacted everyone with a simple message calling them to the briefing room. If any of her squadmates were confused as to where that was, she was sure that someone would help out and guide them there. They _did_ stick around after all. When she made it into the room, there was only a single squadmate in it. Kaidan Alenko, of course. He was the only person who didn't have to take the elevator which was currently taking its time down to the bottom floor of the ship. Well, there was Nihlus as well. Oddly enough, he seemed to completely skip Ember's mind. Unusual to say the least. Ember rolled her eyes at how slow the damn thing was. As soon as she had to money to, she was going to be fixing that elevator to go _much_ faster.

“Ah, good to see you Kaidan.” Ember said, thinking she would have to force a smile, but one came naturally.

Kaidan looked up from his holopad and greeted her with a smile. “Good to see you captain,”

Ember looked at him with one eyebrow raised. “Do you think you're going to stick to calling me that from now on?”

The Lt. shook his head. “I doubt it,” he laughed. “You'll make a good captain though.”

Nihlus was also in the room, but didn't say anything.

Ember dipped her head once and looked out to the door and waited for the others to make it in. Oddly enough, all of them were down with the engine and Mako.

Soon enough, they all filed in one after the other like a line of students making it down the hall back in school on the Fleet. They all smiled at Ember, and she returned the gesture with something they could easily know, instead of have to attempt to see through her visor. Garrus was the last one to enter, and once she recognized who it was, she turned her head and looked at the others. She wasn't going to look at him for now. Maybe later, but not when the wound was still fresh.

“Okay, what are we doing here skipper?” Ashley asked, a small cheer to her voice that made Ember feel all the happier.

“Yeah,” Wrex budged in. “What's the point of this?”

“Well it has to be important,” Tali pointed out, as she leaned against the wall.

Ember nodded. “Okay, so we are currently heading for the Mass Relay to get away from the Citadel, as I'm sure you all know by now. Anderson contacted me, and we have three leads to track down. I want your opinions of the different places we could go.”

“It all depends on if there will be fighting or not.” Wrex grunted, taking a similar posture to Tali.

“I'd prefer not the get shot full of holes,” Kaidan said strongly. Ember could almost see the amount of confidence he had built up dripping off him.

“But we're most likely going to find it anyways.” Ashley said a little grimly.

Tali sighed a little before looking over to Kaidan. “I think I'm with Kaidan on this one.”

“I think we should get to know our options before we start choosing.” Garrus interjected. Ember still didn't look his way.

She shrugged a little before looking up. “So the three options are to go to Feros, a little colony currently being attacked by Geth. Noveria, where it was believed that the Matriarch was located. And Therum, a small mining colony that has one very special person.”

“And who's that?” Wrex jut in. “But more importantly, do I get to shoot it?”

“No!” Ember shook her head a little. “The person is the Matriarch's daughter. We could perhaps get her location from her.”

“I thought you said we already knew it, Noveria.” Ashley said.

“I did not,” Ember countered. “She might be somewhere else than Noveria, we have no way of knowing.”

The room went silent for a little bit, each person in thought.

Then: “I say Feros. I need to kill some things, even if it's just your people's creations.” Wrex said.

Ashley nodded. “I agree on Feros. We need to save the people of the colony before they're killed.” She looked down to the floor before mumbling, “I know all too well what it's like to be attacked by Geth with only a handful of people to defend is like.”

“I say Noveria.” Garrus said. Ember still avoided looking at him. He continued on with, “The Matriarch seems to be the closest person to Saren. He's our final goal, and I think we should try and get her before she disappears and we lose her forever.”

Nihlus, who had remained silent for most of the entire debate, decided to speak up. "I'm agreeing with Garrus on this. He's right that if we lose the Matriarch, we lose Saren as well. And he's our end goal. He's the only person who knows what the Conduit is, and who is a serious threat to the galaxy."

Kaidan looked to Ember, and then to everyone else. “I think we should go to Therum. We could get a lot from the Matriarch's daughter, and even if she proves to be innocent, we could possibly get her to join our cause and talk Benezia out of what she's been doing.”

Tali nodded in agreement. “I agree with Kaidan once more. Like Ember said, Benezia might be gone from Noveria already and we have no way of knowing. Getting to her daughter would be great to get some information from.”

“What about the colonists on Feros? Are we just going to let them die? You, a quarian, should know how much damage they can do!” Ashley added, pointing at Tali.

“It is highly unlikely that the Geth are after anything involved with the colonists. They will most likely have small attacks here and there, but nothing they can't handle. But I think Therum is our only chance to go and have a direct link to the Matriarch.”

“Well,” Wrex spoke. “It's two for two for two, Ember. Are we going to Feros, Therum, or Noveria?”

Ember thought about the answer a lot. On one hand, she wanted to save the colonists. She had fought Geth, and they were not pleasant to deal with. But if they missed out on finding the Matriarch's daughter, they might have completely lost Saren for good. But then came it came to Noveria, where the Matriarch herself was. It was doubtful she would stay there for long. So, she decided on the planet with the most important thing in her mind.

“I say we go to Therum. Feros will come next, and then finally, Noveria.”

The entire group nodded.

“When do you think we'll make it there?” Ashley asked.

“A few weeks maybe, it's in the Knossos System, so we don't really know.”

She nodded. “Okay, I only hope we make it in time to save the colonists.”

“We will,” Tali reassured. “They've got time on their hands, and the Geth aren't after colonists. We know at least that much from our history classes back on the Fleet.”

“If you say so,” Ashley said, followed with a little nod.

They all walked out of the room and made their ways back to wherever they decided they were stationed, except for Tali. She decided to stay behind with Ember and go up to the captain's quarters. It _was_ getting late after all, and with everything she had to deal with, she was sure that Tali needed a rest. Ember did too, but she couldn't at the time. She had to tell Joker where they were going.

The bridge was as simple as she had remembered, with a few people typing away on their terminals, not bothering to look at who was passing by as she made her way to Joker right at the front of the ship. Joker was watching something quite profane on his large screen, as he normally was an Ember rolled her eyes with a sigh.

The image was gone after a little bit of fumbling and he turned around in his chair. “Oh, hey Ember.” His voice was a little nervous. “Sorry you had to see that.”

“It's fine. Just... don't let it distract you from the job, right?”

He nodded. “Right. Anything else you need?”

“Just wanted to let you know we found where we are going.”

His eyes widened for a moment, but it faded quickly. “Okay, so where is that?”

“Therum.” Ember said a little matter-of-factly. “It's in the Knossos System. Shouldn't be too tough for you to find.”

He nodded as he swivelled back to face the screen. “What's the Therum?”

“The Matriarch's daughter,”

Jeff let out a surprised huff. “And you're going to get information from her?”

“That's the plan.”

He nodded and Ember turned to walk off. She heard Joker's chair swivel once more and she had a feeling at what he was doing. _Men..._

When she made it back up to her quarters, Tali was already inside, looking at something on the computer. When the door opened, she spun around on the chair and hopped up from it. “Hey, Ember,”

Ember smiled. “Hey, Tali.”

“So come over here and look at this,” Tali said, moving her head in the direction of the laptop.

They did and the screen showed that the extranet was open and a page was on Therum.

“So it says here,” Tali began. “That Therum is a mining colony, we know that already, but is also extremely hot. Lava is shown clearly on the surface and the temperature gets to unbearable heights during parts of the day. But, the planet is also known for having old Prothean ruins scattered across its surface, and I think that might be why the Matriarch's daughter might have went there.”

“So you think we have a Prothean geek on our hands?” Ember joked.

Tali nodded seriously. “I think we do. Feros is said to be holding up well despite the attack, but we should head there as soon as we can.”

“Okay.” Ember agreed, giving her quarian lover a hug from behind. “You should join me in bed.”

Tali laughed a little as she closed the laptop and followed Ember down to the bed at the other end of the room. Ember had already made her way under the covers, and Tali just got in.

“Keelah,” Tali remarked. “It's really, really soft.”

Ember sighed happily. “It is. I wonder why Anderson gave up the bed,”

“It _is_ a mystery...” Tali said softly, and tiredly, snuggling up to Ember like they had done years ago.

“It's wonderful to be with you once more, Tali. This brings back so many memories.”

Tali nodded sleepily. “It does,”

“Goodnight Tali,” Ember shifted a little closer to Tali as their bodies entwined.

“Goodnight Ember,” Tali mumbled.

She was right. She didn't need Garrus. Garrus could handle himself perfectly fine on his own. Tali was the only one she needed in her life. The only one to say she loved her. Those were her last thoughts before drifting off into a peaceful sleep.

* * * * *

Garrus sighed. She hadn't even _looked_ at him. It was almost like he wasn't even there. Maybe he was a little selfish with her, but it was out of love. He only hoped Ember could see that. He doubted she would though, with Tali being there she would most likely lose her love for him within a few days. He wished to any who would listen that that didn't come to pass.

Maybe he could go and apologize to Ember in a few days? See if she would still be willing to be in a triangle? He kicked the tire of the Mako wearily. That wouldn't come to pass at all. He knew it. He had his chance and he ruined it. But, he could always try again. Because he wanted her in his life. He loved Ember, and his heart shouted this out to him every time when he wasn't thinking of something else.

He sighed and looked at the elevator. He would apologize eventually, but maybe Ember would never forgive him...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, why can't I be over in ME2 already? I have so many ideas for that game over this one. Oh well, I guess I'll have more incentive to finish up ME1.


	13. The Matriarch's Daughter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the Nine, I'm very sorry for the wait on this chapter. Took me longer to write this then I thought it would. I will hopefully get a new chapter out soon, but I make no promises.  
> Hope you enjoy my version of one of the more memorable missions in the first game.  
> (Oh, and please remember that I am purely running off of memory and I haven't played the games for months now. That will change come X-mas, but right now I'm running on memory alone, so please forgive any errors I have made within the mission, and for future ones)

Ember opened her eyes slowly. They would have just jumped the relay by now, and should be well on their way to Therum. She turned and looked at Tali, who was still sleeping away softly, and let out a small sigh. She didn't know how this mission would work out. Eden Prime was almost a complete failure. The vision she had gotten was still pieces and fragments but maybe if she spoke with the Matriarch's daughter, she might be able to decode what it all meant. She only had the slightest idea of what it fully meant: death and destruction. But there had to be something more than that, right? Or could it just be to show what had happened to the Prothean race from so long ago?

She sighed, shaking her head a little. She didn't know. Maybe the asari they were going to meet would, but maybe she had no idea as well. She wouldn't know what to do after that. Perhaps get the Matriarch herself? But what did she know of prothean technology? That was of little concern to her. What really mattered was the Matriarch, the colonists on Feros, and finding Saren and stopping him from reaching 'the Conduit'. Whatever that was. But it didn't sound like something that would make the world a better place if the most powerful rogue spectre in the galaxy obtains it. There was so much weight on her shoulders now. She was her own captain, a representative of her entire race, a spectre for the Council, and given one of the most important tasks in the galaxy.

She _really_ needed Tali with her. That much was completely known to Ember. Without her, she would simple collapse and lose her mind. She needed that secure anchor to keep her firmly planted where she needs to be. On the Normandy. Her mind strayed to what would happen when she made it out of this, with the ship. What would happen? She guessed she would remain captain on the Migrant Fleet as well, with one of the best ships in the Fleet. That was certainly more than she was ever expecting. It had been one thing to be hired to help out with Alliance missions, and another to become a spectre, with the possibility to reclaim her entire race's honour. But it was another thing entirely to be given a ship. The Normandy no less. One of the most expensive ships in the Alliance.

Why she was so trusted was something she doubted she would ever fully understand. But she was. It seemed to be a recurring thing. She would do something, and then become famous for it. She had no idea how many extranet articles there must be on her by then. But what was so honourable about her? What made people know they could place their trust in her, and not have it broken? It seemed unusual that people would be willing to donate an entire ship worth millions of credits to a simple bounty hunter from the scum of Omega. She sighed. Not everything was her power, she supposed. It's not like she didn't want to be trusted after all. That wouldn't work out in her favour in the slightest.

She flattened and straightened bits and pieces of her suit as she got ready to walk out into the CIC. Even if it was still a time when nobody was awake, she could use the walk with silence surrounding her. If not, then she would have someone to speak with and give advice on what to do. She knew only the smallest amount of what it takes to be a captain, and now she was in that role. That was certainly something she would have to get used to. But she knew she would. Just like how she had gotten at least somewhat used to her time in slavery. She shuddered. Those were not memories she would like to ever think of. But she always did. They would come and go as they pleased, and she had no way of ridding them.

Ember walked back to the bed, smiling down upon Tali, who was still sleeping away. She only hoped happily. She brought up the blanket and covered her lover once more, and then walked quietly out of the cabin. The elevator, which was still slow, made it down to the CIC at a pace that Ember would consider a century. When she walked out, nobody was around the room. She checked her omni-tool for the time, and it stated what time it really was. “6:42-12”. She let her head look to the ground. She had only slept for seven hours. That wasn't nearly as much time as she would like. But once she was up, it was very unlikely for her to fall asleep again until the 'night' once more. Her mind moved on through many different things as she walked the empty rooms and halls of the Normandy.

How would the mission on Therum go? Would there be any fighting? How would the daughter of Benezia react when she was found? Those questions wracked her mind and she wanted to answer them, but she couldn't. Not for a week or two at least. She hoped that Tali could find a way to make the ship go faster. That would be much better than the slow pace the current engine run at. Then again, everything ran slow. Didn't matter what it was, it worked like someone had hit it with a slow-motion hammer. It confused Ember greatly. Maybe in a few years everything would be faster? That would be the day that she worked for something like an all-human organization.

She only hoped that she made it to Therum in time.

* * * * *

This was it. She was finally ready to go and get the Matriarch's daughter. Therum had come into their sights only ten minutes previous, and Ember was currently losing her mind on who she wanted to go with her. Garrus might be nice, but then again, they still hadn't done anything to fix the broken bridge between them. Maybe Nihlus? Yeah, he would do. Then she would need someone else. Ashley came to mind next, but she turned down that idea as they would most likely face more Geth. A ship of theirs was shown to be on the surface of the planet. Kaidan was who came next to mind, and that was who she decided on.

So it would be a long range shooter, which was herself, a spectre better at short and medium range, and Kaidan who was best at short range combat. That seemed well balanced. Of course, she had never organized a team before, but the team she had now seemed like it would work. Then her mind strayed to Wrex. He could certainly hold his own in a firefight, from what she had seen in Chora's Den a few weeks ago, and he would help out a lot. So that was her team of four. She could probably take a few more people, but that would most likely make it a little unmanageable.

She let everyone know through the small radio system they had set up for all the squad members, and they all said they would be getting ready as soon as they could. Ember had just finished assembling her weapons when Wrex, who was the last one to enter, strode in, a smirk on his face.

“Finally, I get to kill something!” His voice echoed off the walls.

“Just keep yourself alive.” Ember spoke, a chill underlining her words.

The three of them nodded in unison. “I intend to.”

Joker cut in through the comm system only a few moments after. “I say you're going to need to use the Mako. I can't find a good spot to land you anywhere near the mining facility.”

Ember looked to the three men by her. “Any of you know how to drive a Mako?”

Kaidan was the one who silently raised his hand, announcing that he did. “I don't know much, but we were given a little training as part of being in the Alliance.”

“Perfect.” Ember said. “You can drive. I'll man the turret.”

Wrex laughed a little. “But isn't that meant for a _man_?”

Ember was a little confused at that, but figured out out after going through what she had said. “Not the time for a sexist joke here, Wrex,”

He just laughed.

When they had finally made it to the Mako, and Kaidan had done a little to know how it worked, Joker spoke through the comm system once more. “Alright, I'm bringing you in to the best landing place I can. Drop out in ten seconds.”

Kaidan counted down from ten to zero, and then hit the reverse on the Mako. The vehicle whirred to life and then propelled them out of the Normandy's garage in a matter of moments. They hit the ground well enough, if a few people were jostled around. Kaidan said a small apology, with the response being a couple groans of pain. He frowned and got back to steering the Mako down the already used road, with lava on one side and mountains on the other.

When they thought it might not be too bad, a Geth ship flew overhead and with it, the entire crew could see Geth fall down from the ship and hit the boiling surface of the planet. Ember sighed and climbed up onto the the turret and began firing out upon the Geth, while Wrex and Nihlus made small talk.

“So what's it like being a bounty hunter?” Nihlus was the first one to ask.

Wrex leaned back against the hull of the Mako and looked up a bit. “Has Ember not told you how it is?”

“She has.” Nihlus said quickly. “But I'm not sure that slavery is a part of being one, or getting an alias.”

Ember sighed. “Hey, I was a slave _before_ I became a bounty hunter.”

“Oh right,” Nihlus said slowly, clearly remembering one of the times Ember spoke of her past. “But slavery lead to being a bounty hunter.”

“Well I wasn't becoming a dancer, that was for sure!” Ember said a little loudly, trying to speak over the gunfire that Wrex and Nihlus could barely hear.

Wrex sighed. “It's a lot like being an assassin. But without all the sneaking and melee weapons. Make a little worse credits, and you're more likely to get caught, but that doesn't matter much.”

Nihlus nodded and remained silent.

“So,” Wrex started up once more. “How's it like to be a Council lackey?”

“Fuck off Wrex,” Ember spoke from above, waiting for the turret to calm down.

Nihlus laughed. “It gives you a lot more freedom than you might think. You get to go to restricted areas, and the pay is nice.”

“Oh yeah, don't I know it?” Ember grunted sarcastically.

Wrex laughed. “Don't get as much freedom in the Terminus systems.”

“That's because the Terminus systems have never wanted to be a part of Council space, and most likely never will be.” Nihlus remarked, leaning forward and clutching his gun a little tighter.

Kaidan took a few seconds to look back at everyone before speaking up. “Prepare yourself, we need to make a small jump.”

“Across?” Nihlus asked.

There was silence for a moment, before a very quiet reply. “Lava,”

The Mako's thrusters initiated and the crew, along with the ship, went up into the air, passing several Geth and stopping on the other side of a large gap the Geth couldn't hope to cross without going the long way around.

Ember stabilized herself for a couple moments before speaking. “Good job on getting us close to our destination. How did you know it could make that jump?”

“Garrus told me he had improved the thrusters just before we got into it.”

“Ah,” was all Ember replied with.

Gunfire was the main thing that could be heard for most of the ride. Geth were shot down multiple times, with only a few shots actually hitting the vehicle, or its shields, rather. Ember had to admit, it was a little tough using the turret with her Geth arm, as it was just a little bigger than her left, and real arm, but she made due and still got a lot done with her expert marksmanship. Wrex and Nihlus were just sitting around, making snide comments to one another, with Ember occasionally joining in. Kaidan remained silent, which was quite fortunate. Not that his voice was annoying, but it meant he was completely focused on what he was doing, as he had the most important job of them all.

The only problem they really encountered, was a small barricade that had been set up to stop them. Geth had been there, firing onto the Mako and nearly took out its shields, but Kaidan managed to dodge enough of the huge balls of plasma the Geth were firing to let the shields charge back up and for Ember to take them all down. When they made it to the other side of the barricade, they found that it was a large cubical structure, which looked like it was to allow trucks to pass and keep raiders and such out. That was one of the only times that they had made it outside the Mako to go and open the doors before continuing on their way.

The Geth never gave up on their attempts at taking down the Mako, and the people within though. Ember wished they were like the typical movie enemy; horrid aiming, and cannon fodder. But no, they were completely militarized and nearly took out the Mako a few times. One shot had nearly taken out one of the six tires the Mako had, but that was under control soon enough, with a little makeshift repairs.

Finally, they made it to the actual facility, where they had to make it out of the Mako. It stayed just hidden over the rocks so the Geth wouldn't be able to use it against them. Geth were there, of course. How could they not be? One of them, a huge armature, was there to meet the team. It stood much taller than Wrex had ever dreamed of being, and fired huge balls of burning hot, blue plasma. There was also a few Geth that had incredible speed with whatever they did. They seemed to be observers more than attackers, but offered their unwanted help, by the other party at least, against the diverse group of aliens they were fighting. Ember pulled out her SMG and fired away into the Geth group, trying to take down the small Geth hoppers before even trying to take on the armature.

“Oh, you bosh'tets, I'll see you all dead!” Ember yelled out to the Geth who were currently attacking them.

One of the Geth hoppers crumbled to the ground as its single light on its head flickered and subsequently died out as the geth body quit functioning.

The armature was a lot more shielded and tough to take down than the hoppers and usual troops were, that much was for sure. Wrex was the only person to charge it head on, firing his shotgun into the giant mechanical being's head whenever he could while avoiding the shots from the lumbering body sent his way. Nihlus joined in, and so did Ember after she had taken down all the smaller geth who then laid against the ground, their bodies never moving. Kaidan helped out more than anyone had anticipated with the help of his biotics, and his use of his rifle which quickly knocked down the geth's shields, along with Ember and Nihlus' SMGs.

The behemoth of a geth model finally fell, with seemingly no injuries amongst those in the squad, but Doctor Chakwas would be much better at finding any wounds that might have been obtained during their time on the planet. With the remaining geth in the area dead, the main facility was safe to walk inside. The squad slowly walked up the ramp, weapons at the ready at all times, hoping that there weren't any more Geth to deal with. The hallway the group found themselves in wasn't much more than a large tube with lights set up all across it. Rust, or the planet's red rock coated the large tunnel and gave the lights a deep red colour to brighten up the hallway.

Ember wished she didn't have to go inside to find the daughter of the Matriarch, but it was a necessity unfortunately. She would have loved to use her rifle, in any case. It was much more accurate and easy for her to handle than the SMG in her hand. But ultimately, she was skilled in handling both, even though she would much rather use her rifle. She never liked combat up close. She never liked combat to begin with, so being able to see the whites in an enemy's eyes before ending their life, was a position she tried to avoid as much as possible. She looked behind her to see the three alien men right behind her like she had instructed. It was good to see they were following orders. She still had little idea why Wrex was sticking along for the ride though, maybe he just wanted something to kill and be called a saviour from it. That seemed to be the most likely thing.

She gripped her SMG even tighter as she got closer and closer to the door to which enemies may or may not be. With a deep breath, she leaned over the panel and began attempting to get the door open. It didn't take long at all, and within a few moments of her starting, the door hissed and slid open to reveal a large, open chamber. A blue coloured wall could be seen connected to the Prothean structure that was submerged in the ground. If the daughter of the Matriarch was anywhere on Therum, this is where she would really be.

Ember heard a distinct buzzing noise and sighed. Geth drones. The small geth drones showed themselves after moving from somewhere lower in the facility. They immediately began firing upon the small group of aliens and received a heavy counter attack. Two of the small drones blew up within seconds, while Wrex utterly destroyed the last one with a fire of his shotgun. Nobody had been damaged, fortunately. Ember never liked using medi-gel, as it meant someone was injured. But she had to admit, part of herself justified an injury or two if it meant destroying a couple geth.

With the facility silent for the most part the squad began looking around for an elevator or something, as the top part had nothing useful for even finding the asari.

“Hey! I found an elevator!” Kaidan yelled out to the others in the squad.

Wrex and Nihlus ran over, but Ember just walked. “If it's slow like the one on the Normandy and on the Presidium I swear...”

“I'd recommend that you not blow it up, unless you would like to remain trapped here.” Nihlus said, only the slightest bit of worry detectable in his voice.

Ember chuckled. “I know that, but I still don't want the elevator to be slower than the Normandy's with a thousand krogan in it.”

The entire group chuckled, even Wrex. He seemed to have a good sense of humour.

They all loaded into the elevator and Ember hit the button to go down into the depths of the facility. The elevator hissed and groaned as it began its decent, while creating sparks as it scraped against the beams that kept it in place. But, it was faster than the Normandy's elevator, which was nice. But it made it all the worse returning to the ship itself and having to go up and down the elevator every single day just like almost everyone else.

When the elevator groaned to a halt and the awful noises the metal made as it descended ended, everyone got out as soon as they could, most likely afraid of the elevator collapsing. Around them, more metal scaffolding lined the area, along with a huge mining drill pointed towards some more prothean structures. And... there was someone on the other side of one of the stasis fields. It didn't seem like she was capable of moving, with her arms stretched out and her legs together like the human English letter 't'. Ember got everyone in her little group along with her to go and get a better look at the woman who seemed to be trapped.

She was wearing what looked to be field science equipment in the style of an Asari, with a pistol strapped to her side. She had her eyes closed, which might indicate she had been there for a long time, but Ember wasn't sure. Her face was small and petite, and certainly cute. A small fringe went to the back of her head as with all other asari that Ember had ever met.

“Hello?” Ember asked, hoping that the asari would answer.

Her eyes shot open as she looked at the people before her. “By the Goddess. People! Hello, could you perhaps free me? I'm quite stuck here.”

Ember frowned, laying a hand on the prothean shield. “How would I be able to do that?”

“You'd have to get over to this side, where I am.” Her voice was a little panicked, and her entire body was clearly saying she would like to be free as soon as possible.

“And how would I do that?”

The asari sighed. “I don't know, honestly. But please, get me out of this stasis field as soon as you can.”

“One more question. Are you the Matriarch's daughter?” Ember asked, hoping that they had found the right asari.

“Which Matriarch are you speaking of?”

Ember took in a breath. “Benezia,”

The asari nodded. “Yes, I am the daughter of Benezia. Now can you please free me?”

Ember nodded. “I will. Just wait for a few minutes or so, I'll think of something.”

“Thank you,” the asari said, a smile now crossing her lips.

Ember nodded and turned away from the asari and looked to her group. “Ideas?”

Wrex stretched a little. “Maybe blow a hole through it?”

“I'm sure there's a better way than that. There has to be a way through somewhere else.” Nihlus countered with his own idea.

“Does the field perhaps react strangely to biotics?” Kaidan asked.

The asari, who was the matriarch's daughter, thankfully answered. “No, they're not affected by biotic abilities. My studies have proven this fact.”

Kaidan nodded, a frown forming on his face.

Ember couldn't think of any idea that hadn't been said already. She looked around, and then remembered something. There was still the giant mining drill that could be activated. Wrex would certainly like seeing the drill fire off into the prothean building, and it seemed to be the only way to get behind the field without it taking too long. She knew they were running on limited time for when more geth would arrive. She ran off in the direction of the drill, and her squad followed her. When they finally made it, she looked at the imposing drill with an awe-inspiring smile on her face. She quickly found the control panel and set it to activate in twenty seconds.

“Alright, get out of the way!” Ember said, dashing off to some location far away from the drill. The others in the squad followed her as well, regardless if there was a more safe location to be somewhere else. That made Ember smile, even though she doubted anyone could see it.

As the seconds counted down the tension built more and more. Would it even work like how she wanted it to? What if it didn't? Those questions scared her more than geth at that point. If she was unable to get the asari off of Therum before the geth got there, what would happen? She already partially knew the answer to that. She would go out in a blaze of glory along with her squad. The geth horde was relentless and would not stop until everyone was laying on the group in a pool of their own blood. That was how the text-pads described them and that is how they are.

When the count finally hit zero, the drill whirred to life, as the end of it spun faster and faster. It began to move as well, after the few steel beams supporting it collapsed and the drill was free. It shot its way across the dirt and into the prothean structure. It mined under the platform where the restrained asari was and went for the area underneath. As soon as the mining drill died out from its sudden outburst, the squad made their way quickly over to the hole in the prothean structure created. It was quite fascinating to see prothean architecture for the first time, Ember allowed herself to think. Everything still seemed so... advanced.

There was a large disk in the centre of where they were and it had a single pedestal on it. Ember walked over and the squad followed. She pressed a small button on it and found that the entire disk was an elevator. She knew little of prothean controls and their language and such, but it shouldn't be that hard to operate an elevator right? She pressed one of the buttons she thought might lead it up, and slowly the disk began its ascent upwards. Ugh, another slow elevator. Of course. That rusty and old one that actually went faster than the Normandy's was just a small taste before throwing another slow elevator in her face. Ember groaned, trying to keep it from being too loud, but she still received a few looks from her squad.

When it made it to the second level up, which wasn't that long after she started, perhaps fifteen seconds, she ran over to the stasis field. “How do I switch off the field?”

The asari jolted at the voice, as if she had fallen asleep or got completely lost in her mind; most likely the latter. “It's on the terminal over to my right. Just hit the large yellow holographic button and it'll deactivate it.”

Ember did as the asari told her, and within only a matter of moments, the field flickered and then disabled, along with the barrier along the edge of it to keep people out. The asari fell to the ground, seeming to be unable of standing up, since she remained on the ground. Ember walked over and crouched beside the asari. “Can you stand?”

The asari looked up at Ember and nodded. “Sure I can...” she said as she attempted to stand, but realized she couldn't. “Nevermind. I can't.”

Ember nearly sighed, but instead it came out as a small huff as she grabbed onto the asari and hoisted her to her feet. She still seemed unsure if she was able to stand, and requested that Ember stick around so she wouldn't fall over, which Ember accepted a little grudgingly.

“Joker, bring the Normandy in. We're nearly ready for extraction from the mining facility.”

Joker's voice was almost immediately heard from the other side of the comm. “What about the Mako?”

“It's back a ways. I think you should get it before coming to pick us up.”

Ember could almost _hear_ him nod his head. “Rodger that.”

“Nihlus,” Ember began. “Do you have any water on you? Or maybe you, Kaidan?”

Nihlus shook his head, but Kaidan nodded and produced a small flask from... somewhere. He handed it over to Ember and she nodded in thanks.

“Here, drink this.” She said, opening up the flask and lowering it to the asari.

She grabbed it and immediately began drinking the precious and wonderful liquid. After a few seconds, it was gently taken from her, and she complied reluctantly. “Thank you. I needed that.”

Ember shook the flask, feeling the small amount of water left in it. “I can tell,” she said as she tossed it back to Kaidan who deftly caught it.

The relaxing while heading up the elevator was short lived unfortunately. On one of the floors it seemed that some more geth and some new enemies, distinctly krogan hopped aboard the circular elevator.

One of the two krogan were the first to speak. “Give us the asari!”

“Why do you want her?” Ember asked. She had faced krogan before, and they were a little tough but with a well placed shot to the head or two, they fell pretty quick.

A couple rumbles could be felt, and heard from down below them. It seemed to be nothing, until it happened again a few moments later, shaking the large group of people and synthetic bodies on it.

“What did you do?” One of the krogan asked.

The asari, or the matriarch's daughter, as Ember still didn't know her name, spoke up. “I think when you used the drill to get to this side of the prothean ruin, it caused a huge rupture and now the cave is beginning to collapse.”

“Hand over the asari, before time runs out!” The krogan yelled.

Ember stood her ground, while Kaidan, Nihlus and Wrex all began to take out their weapons. “Over my dead body.” Her voice turned surprisingly bitter with that one sentence.

The krogan laughed. “So be it.”

Ember quickly drew her SMG and fired tens of bullets into the krogan before he could even more. His body fell limply to the floor while his head was nothing more than a couple chunks. Seeing one of their own fall, the rest of the group quickly pulled out their weapons and began firing, or at least tried to. Many of the geth were cut down with a hail of bullets before they even managed to get a single round to make contact, much like the now-deceased krogan. The final krogan was much tougher to take down then Ember had anticipated. He took an entire clip to his chest and arms and still returned fire. Ember felt a rupture in a section of her suit, directly above her hips.

Returning fire, Wrex, who had dealt with all the enemies he needed, went on to attack the krogan as well. The krogan charged Ember and knocked her to the ground before she could fire off any more bullets, and he was just about to fire off his shotgun into Ember's head, before another shotgun strike hit his own. His face seemingly exploded, chunks of skull, brain and blood splattering against the ground after it had flown through the air. Ember quickly rolled over before the krogan weakly fell onto the ground where she had been. Being trapped under a huge alien was not something she wanted to endure, much less on the battlefield than in other locations.

The entire squad panted, while the asari was just on the floor, doing her best to remain sitting in her current state. Another large rumble broke the near-silence as the mining facility took another step towards completely collapsing. Ember sat down, looking up at the ways they had to go until they reached the top. She only hoped the elevator made it up in time.

The elevator finally came to a stop, and everyone nearly sprinted off the elevator, except for Ember who had to deal with carrying the asari with her geth arm, making the asari seem much lighter than what her actual weight was. Only a few seconds passed after everyone got off the elevator before it collapsed and fell back into the hole of Therum. The Normandy could be seen only a small ways away, making sure to fly low to the ground so the crew could climb aboard. Ember was the last one on, after pushing the asari up and then hauling herself up into the garage and sighing when she saw the Mako back where it was before they had gone on the mission. It was a success. They had found the matriarch's daughter, and could now hopefully get some information on the matriarch herself.

“Take her to see Doctor Chakwas,” Ember said to Kaidan and Nihlus. They both nodded wordlessly and walked off, leaving Ember to sit down and pant while trying to regain some energy. She was more out of shape than she thought she was.

“Glad to be off that fucking rock,” she mumbled to herself, before heading off to the engine room to see her favourite little quarian.


	14. Dreams of the Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the Nine, I'm very sorry on the wait for this chapter. I decided to take a week off of writing and do what I wanted to for a little while, and then when that week was over, I found that it was incredibly difficult to write, and not just on this story, but my other ones as well.  
> I can only hope that that is all over, and new chapters to be released soon.

Ember walked into the engine room like she had so many times before. Her eyes snapped up to the large drive core like it had so many times before, and then down to Tali who was tapping away on the little panel in front of her, attempting to make the ship run faster than it had before. It would certainly save a lot of time getting from place to place, and with the task that has been placed on her, Ember needed to get from one place to another as soon as she could. The engines, while not the best available, could be heavily improved upon, maybe even chopping off a few days of travel. They'd have to do that when they decided to make it to the Citadel or Thessia.

Ember walked slowly and silently over to the oblivious Tali, as she took a moment to look at the massive drive core. She quickly wrapped her hands around Tali's waist and snuggled up to her. Tali gasped for a moment, and then after she realized who it was, settled down and did her best to return a gesture to her lover.

“I'm back,” Ember sung, her voice low yet light.

Tali smiled, and wiggled up to Ember a little closer. “I can tell,” she said through a laugh.

Ember smirked, and then frowned for a moment, looking at her arm. She knew it bothered Tali, and honestly, it bothered her too. It was an addition that she was sure she could live without, and mostly wanted to. But she was stuck with it, and she didn't know about getting another prosthetic. Even after years of living with one arm being made of Geth materials, she still wasn't the largest fan of it.

“So, make any improvements on the engines? We could use any amount of time cut off from travel.”

Tali nodded quickly. “I did. Made an improvement of seventeen percent.”

Ember's eyes widened. “Really? How many days would you think we'd save in travel.”

Tali weighed the times in her head for a little bit. “Maybe a day or two?”

Ember smiled. “I have no idea how you did it, but thanks.” She let her hand sink down a little lower.

Tali blushed and looked away.

A few moments of silence passed between them before Tali spoke up. “So how'd Therum go?”

Ember groaned. “Worse than I wanted, but better than expected.”

Tali made an unamused face, even though nobody could see it. “But the mission was a success?”

Ember nodded. “It was. We got the matriarch's daughter, and she's headed off to the medbay right now.”

“Was she injured?”

“Not that I know of, but she is most likely suffering from dehydration. She was trapped in a prothean stasis field when we found her.”

Tali nodded slowly, turning around and leaning against the railing. Ember took a few steps back to not get in the way.

“So Feros next?” Tali's voice had taken a much smaller tone to it.

Ember nodded once and shifted her weight to one side. “Yes. We can't let the Geth do too much damage to the colony.”

“I only hope those colonists don't get too mad at us when we arrive. I mean, our species made the Geth.”

Ember blew off the comment. “I doubt it. _We're_ going to save them, and our ancestors made them.”

“I wonder what would have happened if we didn't try and kill the Geth...” Tali said slowly, her eyes cast off to the metal of the hull. “Maybe they would have never done what we thought they would. Maybe we could have worked alongside one another, after realizing they gained sentience.”

“Maybe.” Was all Ember could say. The Geth were always a controversial topic between them.

“Do you think we could get peace from the Geth? Where we would go back for our homeland, and then live in harmony?”

Ember frowned. “I doubt that would be the case, but if it was, that would ultimately be preferable.”

“It's strange that the Geth have decided to attack outside the Vale. Even stranger is that they've only been targeting humans. You would think they'd try and get quarians out on their pilgrimage, but no.” Tali sighed. “I think there's more to all of this than any of us know.”

“Want to brainstorm in the cabin?” Ember lightheartedly suggested.

Tali stood up properly and nodded. “Sure,”

Once they made it to the cabin, where would they begin? Saren was certainly the strongest lead they had, that much was known. Geth weren't ones to leave the Vale, so it was unusual that they would; they must have had one strong reason to do so.

Ember plopped herself onto her chair and spun around, looking at Tali. “Where should be begin?”

Tali glanced around the office space in the cabin and frowned. “We should begin with finding me a place to sit.”

“I'm not sure of any other chairs, but are you fine with just sitting on the counter?” Ember said, already clearing off a spot.

Tali nodded and seated herself onto the counter. “Now, let's begin...”

They spoke on length, but could never really find anything useful. Ember's vision was brought up multiple times, but proved to be nothing more than the slightest bit of help ever. Saren was the main focus of the conversation, as he should have been. He was the entire reason they were going on this chase in the first place, and to get more information on why he went rogue, the Conduit, and what sent shivers down Ember's spine, the Reapers.

She didn't know when, but at some point Tali had fallen asleep. She was leaning against one of the walls next to the counter, partially curled up. Ember sighed, and blinked twice. She was feeling tired too. They didn't break much new ground, other than a simple theory, which was believed that Saren was using the Geth for some reason or another. Most likely as troops to find the Conduit and cause chaos around human colonies and settlements.

Ember sat up and gently picked up Tali from her seemingly uncomfortable spot on the counter, and set her down in bed, along with herself. Everything was silent when she pulled the covers of the bed above her, wrapping her in a cocoon of warmth, except for the sound of Tali, her breathing was the only noise she made, and it was gentle enough to lull Ember into a sleep as well.

* * * * *

_She looked up at the quarian who held her hand tightly as they walked through the crowded hallways of the Rayya. Hees'Cafal vas Rayya was his name; one of the few quarians who helped out and did menial jobs such as work at the orphanage. Ember always liked him a lot. He was kind, caring, and passionate about a better life for her species. Whether it was in the inky black void of space, or a dry and rocky planet with scarce vegetation, much like how Rannoch had been described, he always wanted quarians to live a good life. And he was one of the few on the ship that actually did something to help with that._

_Hees had been her closest friend back at the orphanage. It was a small little house, with a moderately large room in the centre that was used as a play-place. Lights above constantly flickered, and some days, refused to work at all. It wasn't the nicest place to live, but Ember tried to make the best of it. The fact that she could never make friends didn't help with making the place feel more welcoming, however. Hess seemed to be the only person who cared about her. He came and went every day, making sure that all the kids were well fed and looked after, as the owner of the orphanage didn't do as good of a job at that._

_Hees was the only person she could connect with. They both had a similar sense of humour, and it was clear that he took a liking to her the most of all the kids. Their friendship had only grown stronger as the Fleet made their way from system to system._

_And now, here she was, walking down a hallway with him by her side, her hand held up a little lower than her head as she gripped his hand tightly. She remembered his words so distinctly. “I've got good news Ember,” he began, squatting down to be a little lower than her eye level._

_She had blinked and looked at him, her excitement rising with every passing second. “What is it? Did you get another flavoured paste tube?” Her favourite always had been the flavour of one plant that grew on a human planet. Earth. At the time, it seemed to be such a difficult name to remember. An insignificant planet thousands of light years away. But the plant that grew on it, coffee, she absolutely loved._

_Hees chuckled, but shook his head a little. “I wish I could have, but they're out right now. I'll get you another one as soon as I can, alright?”_

_Ember smiled and nodded. “Okay!” Her voice carried an excitement and youthfulness to it that always had a way of making Hees, seemingly the happiest quarian in the Flotilla._

“ _But, what I came to tell you is much more important.” His voice had been imbued with an ecstatic tone._

_Ember stopped and looked into his visor. “What is it?” she gently repeated._

_He clasped his hands together, and then released. “I've spoken with some of the local families, and I found someone willing to keep you.”_

_Ember's mouth went slack-jawed. Was this really happening? Could someone have actually been willing enough to accept her? “Who is it?”_

_Hees stood up and looked down to Ember. Even though she couldn't see through his visor, she could almost_ feel _his smile present behind it. “They're known as the Zorah family. They already have a child, but were willing to accept another one. They don't know much about you, other than your first name. I left those details missing so that you could say them.”_

“ _But what if I'm too nervous?” She tried to say properly, but it came out little more than a squeak._

“ _Then I'll help you along the way. I won't leave your side until I know you're safe.”_

_Ember could feel tears of joy forming behind her visor, but she didn't care. She might finally have parents again. She ran over and hugged Hees, wrapping her hands tightly around his waist. He chuckled and ruffled her hood. Ember couldn't have cared less._

_She didn't know when she was going to make it to the door, but she hoped it was soon. She knew as much about the Zorahs as they did her. It would be a learning experience for both of them._

_After what seemed to be hours, they finally made it to the door. It was as plain as every other door on the ship, and the only way it could be identified was by the name fused onto it. “Zorah” it said. Ember looked up to Hees nervously, and he smiled back down and squeezed her hand. “It'll be alright Ember. I promise.”_

_Ember nodded, but was still unsure. Hees clicked the door chime, and sent a melody to be played on the other side. It was simple, but a decent tune. Not one that one would dance to or anything, but one that didn't make the person who had to hear it every time someone was at the door hate it._

_A few moments of silence passed before the door slid open, letting out a loud scraping sound, and Ember swore she could see sparks fly before it stopped. “Hello?” the woman on the other side said._

_With a small nod, Hees began to speak. “Hees'Cafal vas Rayya. You are a Zorah, correct?”_

_The woman nodded. “Taela'Zorah vas Rayya. You're from the orphanage if I remember correctly...”_

_A swift nod confirmed her thought._

“ _So,” she looked down to Ember, who had to fight the urge to not shy away. “This is Ember?”_

“ _Ember'Xaelas nar Rayya.” Hees looked down to Ember, who met his gaze. “Why don't you tell her a little about yourself?”_

_Ember fidgeted for a couple moments, and didn't speak._

_Hees squeezed her hand again. “Go on,” he encouraged. “She's fine.”_

_Ember took in a deep breath, and then let it fumble out. “My name is... Ember'Xaelas nar Rayya.” She began slowly. “And I've been an orphan here on the ship for three years g-galactic time. And...” she bit her lip. Knowing that both adults were staring at her didn't help. “C-can you speak now Hees?”_

_He nodded and squeezed her hand lightly once more. “It's fine, little one. I'll speak for you.”_

_Ember smiled a small smile, and sidestepped a little closer to Hees._

“ _So, as she's said, her name is Ember'Xaelas nar Rayya. She's been an orphan on here, ever since her mother passed away during childbirth, and her father was one of the mechanics sent onto the Tazzor, before it exploded. She's great to be around, once she warms up, and has a light sense of humour. So far, she seems to be very adept in technology and repairing, but she has not had the ability to really work on her skills.”_

_Taela'Zorah thought on it for a moment, before peeking back into her house and then returning her gaze to her visitors. She jerked her head back twice, a silent signal of invitation. “Come on inside. Both of you.”_

_Hees was the first one inside, and Ember was the second, and she followed closely._

“ _So,” Taela began. “How did you get your name? It isn't Kheelish, I know that much.”_

“ _My mother was really interested in humans, and loved the word. That's as much as I really know about it. So, after she died, father named me 'Ember' as remembrance.”_

_Taela smiled sadly. “Well, how about I introduce you to my own child.” without waiting for a response, she called out behind her. “Tali, someone would like to see you!”_

_A few moments later, the other quarian child, Tali, made herself visible. She was wearing a standard quarian suit. Her hood didn't have the the two sides where it flared out like the adults had, and it was laced with purple, as Ember had green. Tali looked at the other child and looked up to her mother. “Who is she?” she asked._

“ _That's Ember'Xaelas nar Rayya, Tali. She might stay here and live with us.”_

_Tali examined Ember for a few moments, and the worry inside her was rising. What if Tali didn't want her to live here? That would spell the end of this, and she'd cry her way back to the orphanage. Hees wouldn't be happy about it either. He'd do his best to get her back into a cheerful mood once more. He always did._

_But finally Tali nodded. “I think she'd be fine to have around.”_

_Ember felt her heart rise, and she let out a sigh of relief. She could hear Hees sigh too. He knelt down and gave Ember a gentle hug, and she returned it. He stood up and gave a single nod to Taela before heading for the door._

“ _I'll be back in a few hours Ember, if you don't like it here, I'll take you back. But, if you're welcomed and willing to stay here, I'll leave you here.”_

_Ember felt a panic rise in her throat. Does he mean that if she's fine with living here, that he won't be seen by her again? “Will you still come over every once and a while?” She had to ask, she just had to._

_He nodded. “Of course I will. Keelah se'lai Misses Zorah.”_

_Taela also smiled, or at least Ember assumed she did. “Keelah se'lai, Mister Cafal.”_

_With that, Hees walked out and the door slid shut behind him._

“ _Now,” Misses Zorah began, walking over to the kitchen. “Let's get you some food. You must be famished...”_

* * * * *

Ember's eyes snapped open, and she could see the smooth and flat metal of the ceiling, and hear the gentle breathing of Tali which had lulled her to sleep in the first place. It had been a long time since she had ever thought of Hees'Cafal. She wondered how he was doing, and if he was getting anywhere with trying to make a better life on the Rayya. And it had been a long time since she had thought of Taela'Zorah as well. Ember had never called her 'mother', or Rael'Zorah 'father', and never could. She had to keep her own parents memories alive, and by calling them her parents, things could start to blur, which it had before she put a stop to it. She sniffed at the thought of neither of them being there for them when they had left on their pilgrimage.

Of course, it hadn't bothered them when they had left, but now... It was a shame that Rael couldn't be there for them when they left. He was part of the Admiralty Board though, so even though he wanted to, he couldn't come to see his girls leave the Fleet. He'd never been one to like that Ember and Tali ended up in a relationship more than friends, but still accepted it. It had been a surprise for all three of them that they had feelings more than friends. Some of the people of the Rayya had made fun of them for it, but they ignored it, because when they were with one another, they found peace. When Ember had described the feeling to Rael, she remembered seeing his rigid body begin to slack. “I remember feeling like that when Taela and I had been together for a few weeks,” he had said. Knowing that he had experienced the same thing she was, was a relief, and he grew to accept it more and more.

She felt so alone right then, even with Tali right beside her. Sometimes, she wished she could be back on the Rayya, to hear the idle chatter being mumbled throughout the halls, to hear the whirring of the ship's engines as a constant reminder that everything worked properly, unlike the Normandy.

But she couldn't go back yet, no matter how much she wanted to. She had a mission to do, and when that was done, she didn't know what she could do really. She was a Spectre for the Council, which was a huge honour. As much as she'd like to return and live a normal life back on the Fleet, it seemed that would never happen. She had a role to live up to for the Council. But maybe that was for the better. She could earn the trust of the Council, and maybe even get someone as a member of the Council itself. Change the number of seats from three to four. Then there was Humanity. She didn't know what would happen with them, but she knew enough that they wanted a seat in the Council as well. These days it seemed like she was more aligned with the humans than her own people. Doing jobs for them, having an entire crew of them, and tracking down Saren because not only the Council wants it, but the humans as well.

Ember opened up her omni-tool, watching as the orange light flickered to light as it always did. She scrolled until she found her messages and clicked the tab that read “ _Important_ ”. It had been a long time since she had seen it, but she wanted to once more. She clicked on one of the only ones there, and she routed the sound through her suit so it couldn't be heard by anyone but her, to avoid waking Tali.

The hologram adjusted itself, and then cleared to show an image of Rael'Zorah, holding out his arm to record the message.

“ _Greetings Ember,”_ The holograph of her adoptive 'father' spoke. _“So, you must have left on your Pilgrimage by now. I'm sorry I couldn't be there for it. The Admiralty Board made sure I didn't though, as I had some important business elsewhere, you know how it is. I just want to say how proud I am of you, and Tali on going on your pilgrimage. I know you know how mine went, and no, you don't have to do anything like that._

_Just, be safe. You might not want to be called my daughter, but I still see you as one. And, be sure to take care of Tali, if you love her as much as you tell me. She's with you every step of the way, and hopefully, always will be.”_

The hologram of Rael stood still, and then sighed. _“No matter what, I know both you and Tali will make me proud, and Taela if she was still alive. Fly safely, and return as soon as you can. I miss both of you already.”_

The hologram flickered and cut out. Ember still stared at the spot where it had been though. She had forgotten his words, and was ashamed she couldn't live up to what he had wished as best as she could've. Tali and her had been separated for nearly five years, or maybe even longer. She knew it wasn't her fault, but she still had a sense of failure in her. She doubted Rael would be harsh about it, but there was always the worry.

She stretched a little, and then settled with wrapping an arm around Tali, who sighed contently and snuggled deeper against her lover. A little while after, a soft ringing sound activated for only a second or so, and Ember swung her arm over to look at what it was. It was a message from Chakwas. “The Matriarch's daughter is awake, and she'd like to speak with you, and the rest of the squad.”

Ember nodded to herself and sent off a simple and quick reply. It seemed her work was never over...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I personally felt that Ember was a little too mysterious for everyone (including myself) and decided to add in her backstory. I feel this also explains how everything in Chapter 1 came to be. Also added in a headcanon list in the first chapter's notes, in case you didn't know.  
> Hope you enjoyed my newest chapter, even if it's a little bit shorter than normal.


	15. Going Viral

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. An entire month without an update... Been too long, honestly. Sorry about the wait, but I had a lot of other things to do and school has taken up a lot more of my time than I thought it would.  
> And when I finally finished this chapter... all of the progress was lost. So I had to start all over again after angrily glaring at my internet connection for a few days.  
> But I finally have put this out and have a few questions for those who are willing to answer them.

She rolled out of bed and sighed. Her work was never over and never would be. Maybe it would be some day, but not this day and not in the coming weeks. They still had Saren to hunt down, and they were currently heading to the Feros to help the colonists against the Geth. They’d have to go to the Citadel, or maybe Thessia, to get a better engine later.

Ember checked her suit to make sure everything was in order and then nodded contently when she was satisfied at what she saw. She walked to the end of the room where the door and incredibly slow elevator was and then looked back at Tali, who was still sleeping away in the comfortable bed. She smiled to herself and then slid the door open and walked out, as she had to speak with Liara, the Matriarch’s daughter. The single person they had gone to Therum for.

She hoped it wouldn’t be a waste of energy and resources to get Liara. Maybe it would be, maybe not. She had no way of knowing until she actually spoke with her.

Not many people were awake by then, as Ember had changed the rules that the crewmembers could sleep in, but no longer than three hours before noon, galactic time. Those who saw Ember gave her a short wave or salute which Ember nodded her head at. She was on a mission, despite how tired she still was from the memory she experienced.

With agile and light steps, she made it into the Medbay and saw Liara playing around with her omni-tool while lying down. Seemed her and Ember did the same thing when they awoke. Ember couldn’t help but smirk. Dr. Chakwas was typing something, most likely a medical report, into the computer and seemed unaware of Ember’s arrival.

Ember cleared her throat, and the doctor spun around. “Ah,” she sighed. “Ember, good to see you. Liara has recovered quite well I say, but she needs another day or so before she can be like she was before. She spent far too long being trapped in the stasis field.”

Ember chuckled nervously. “Sorry about that…”

Liara looked up at her rescuer, smiled and waved her hand at Ember. “It’s fine. You saved me after all, I’d be caught by the Krogans and Geth if you hadn’t been there.”

Her words made Ember feel just a little better but not entirely. She could’ve been there sooner, but that might have risked blowing out the engine or something else that wouldn’t work well for anyone at all. But she could have done better and it was that thought that really bothered her.

Ember nodded quickly. “Yeah, I guess so,”

Liara smiled. “If there’s anything you need to know, I’m willing to tell you. I suspect there was a greater purpose behind finding me than just to rescue a scientist on a near-abandoned planet.”

Ember bit her lip and nodded once more. “There was. We’re looking for Matriarch Benezia,”

Liara’s smile faded slowly.

“And we were informed that you are her daughter.” Ember continued.

“I am.” Liara said, her face now holding a frown. “But I haven’t spoken to her in years. If you’re looking for her, I’m sorry but I can’t help out with information.”

Ember hung her head for a couple moments and then raised it once more. All that for nothing… Well, maybe not nothing. She could prove to be of use on the Normandy, she was sure of it.

“But in a couple days, as your doctor kindly explained,” she threw her hand in the direction of Chakwas and the aged doctor smiled. “I’ll be willing to work here on the Normandy, if you’ll accept that of course.”

Ember smiled at what she heard. It seemed they had thought the same thing, which was quite uncommon from Ember’s experiences. Everyone thought of stuff differently, or of a different way to word it. It was good that she offered, as Ember didn’t feel that she could ask that she could herself. “I’d gladly accept you as a part of the crew.”

Liara couldn’t help but smile. “I… I hope I prove to be of value.”

Ember smirked and rested a hand on her hip. “I doubt that you won’t.”

Chakwas stood up from her desk and moved stand just off to the left of Ember’s view of Liara. “Yes, I’m sure she’d be a good addition to the team, but right now she needs to get some rest. You two can speak later, as there’s plenty of time. I think you should go and tell Joker that we’re heading off to save those colonists, eh?”

Ember nodded. “No doubt that he should know. Have a good rest Liara, and have a nice rest of the day Chakwas.”

Chakwas inclined her head and Liara did the same. When the door closed, Ember faintly heard Chakwas speaking with Liara but paid it little mind. Not like she needed to eavesdrop on their conversation.

A couple more crewmembers were around the Mess Hall, including Ashley. She was deep in conversation with Kaidan and seemed to be enjoying herself. Ember wondered if it would evolve into anything more than just a simple chat. The two of them didn’t notice her and spoke about what seemed to be life on Earth. Kaidan would know what that’s like, since he grew up in Canada. She wondered what city he lived in though, as there were said to be many in Canada alone.

After riding the unbearably slow elevator, Ember looked at the galaxy map and just stared at the hologram in awe. It was shocking to her that the races had a map of the entire galaxy in only a couple hundred years. She clicked on Feros and watched the little lights of the hologram fade away and turn to a single, nearly entirely grey planet with small blobs of blue and green spread across the surface. The colonists were on some part of the destroyed urban planet, and Ember had little idea where they really were. But Joker would know, and that was enough for her.

She clicked on the mostly-grey planet once more and saw a little menu list pop up, with several options to pick from. She clicked on the “Go to Destination” button and that was that. Joker would receive the message and then go and fly the ship off to where they needed to go. The hologram made a sound similar to something from an old sci-fi movie that she had watched, and zoomed back out to the galactic view it had before. The places where the Mass Relays were shined brighter than anything else on the map, nearly as bright as the centre of the galaxy.

With her job done, she guessed she should go see Joker. She’d go and see Garrus, but her pride screamed that she shouldn’t. If he was truly sorry, he’d come and speak to _her_ about it, anyways. She walked along the bridge with silent footfalls, something she had learned over a while and always proved to give her a laugh when she scares someone. She walked inside the cockpit where Joker was stated, and was shocked at what Joker was watching. It wasn’t something in the more explicit ratings like she had expected, but something more… educational.

“…They are known for their proficiencies in technology, electronics and programming. While many stay aboard their home which has been called the ‘Migrant Fleet’ due to how it moves once every couple of galactic years, some spend their time elsewhere with other aliens on various planets. This is due to them having something called a ‘pilgrimage’ like with humans hundreds of years ago. It is for young Quarians and they seek to help the Fleet. Usually they find themselves in poor jobs or even as slaves and work for small amounts of credits to eventually buy a ship, engine, weapons or their freedom.”

Ember winced as she heard the last word and leaned back against the wall silently.

“Though it may seem like a rough life for them, some can find glory in what they do and sometimes are renowned for the feats they have accomplished. Most of which are shadowed by their infamous reputation for creating the Geth, a large group of AI who fought the Quarians early on and exiled them from their planet, Rannoch. That was over two hundred years ago.

“Following their exile from their system beyond the Persius Veil, they have lived a more nomadic life than they would want. Rumours of them wanting to take back their homeland have always been spreading but so far have never been enacted. Maybe some time in the future, they will finally take back their home planet and live a non-nomadic life once more.”

Ember nearly scoffed, but didn’t want to interrupt what Joker was watching. As if they’d get their home planet back… It had been captured over two hundred years prior and that meant they would never be able to take it back. The Geth had dug in over that time and most likely have the entire planet well-fortified. An assault on the planet would only result in all the Migrant Fleet ships being destroyed or something similar. Unless they could get other species to help them, there wouldn’t be any chance of them taking back Rannoch.

Joker, meanwhile, clicked on another video also related to Quarians, which warmed Ember’s heart. The video was titled “The Fleet’s Most Important Quarian”. Ember wondered who that could be. It always had a chance of being her, but that was in severe doubt.

The intro and an advertisement for something called the ‘Deathray 3000’ played and the product was suited for children. Ember and Joker rolled their eyes in unison and Joker voiced the groan that Ember wanted to make. “The Migrant Fleet,” the voice said, the tone being distinctly female. An accent was present but Ember couldn’t place which of the two hundred countries it originated from. She hardly knew any country beyond Canada, Germany and the United States of America. “Home to millions of Quarians, the race known for their impressive tech and their creation that has given them a bad reputation, the Geth.

“Amongst all these Quarians, there is one that has been known throughout the galaxy, yet also remains a mystery. We have little idea who this person is, but one thing remains certain. They are Quarian. I speak none other than the Council’s newest Spectre ‘Oblivion’. Official reports have no idea who this person really is and why they were made a Spectre, but it has caused many reactions throughout the galaxy, some encouraging this Spectre on whatever they’re doing and others saying that they should’ve never been allowed into the Council at all.

“Regardless of what some people think, this is most likely an important step in Quarian kind. Rumours of their embassy being reopened have begun to spring as soon as a Quarian Spectre was said to exist. No one knows who this is and the Council have refused to speak of them, saying that they are on a very important mission and can’t be disturbed. Who this person is, is really unknown.”

At the most inconvenient time, Ember’s Omni-tool flared and made the distinct chime of a message arriving. Joker jumped a little in his chair and paused the video before spinning the chair and looking at Ember.

Ember swore and awkwardly looked at Joker. “Erm… hey Joker…”

Joker blinked. “Hi Ember. What are you doing?”

“Well I was going to speak to you, but you were watching videos about my species and I decided to not interrupt…”

Joker frowned. “Why did you stick around?”

“I thought it was sweet of you to spend your time learning about me and my people. That video that’s on right now seems to be all about me.”

Joker nodded and Ember saw a smile forming on the sides of his face. “It is. I thought I’d just spend some of my time learning about your people, to, you know, sound more sophisticated when you next speak to me.”

“Well, sorry to ruin that for you.” Ember chuckled a little.

Joker smiled at that and waved a hand. “Don’t worry about it. I think you should see who sent the message, Ember.”

Ember nodded and walked out of the room before leaning against the airlock door and sighing. That could have gone worse, and she didn’t want to think how bad it could’ve gotten. She checked her Omni-tool and a distinct address was the culprit. Her eyes widened and she could hardly believe it. It was Rael, her adoptive father.

The message was sent and seemed to be of a small length which was nice, as she didn’t want to read too much. Not with all that had been happening. She still had to go back up and see Tali, after all.

_Ember;_

_I know I’m not supposed to send off a message until you’re done your pilgrimage, but I can’t help it. The entire Flotilla is a hive of activity and I was allowed to send this one message to you. I have no idea how you’ve been these past years but I hope it has been good enough for you. Pilgrimage isn’t the easiest thing a Quarian can do, after all. Why the ships are in a buzz of activity is because of the fact that it’s been said that a Quarian has become a Spectre!_

_Can you believe it, Ember? A Quarian has gotten the prestigious honour of becoming a Spectre! Because of this, we’ve been speaking with the Council in hopes of re-establishing our Embassy within the Presidium. So far, things are looking good but we don’t know for sure if it’ll be put up._

_This message might be longer than you’d like, but I feel I should say what I can with the single message I can send._

_If you know of who the Quarian Spectre is, please let me know. Don’t care about Pilgrimage rules and send a message to me or any of the Admiralty Board. The Council hasn’t been willing to send information to the Fleet of who the Quarian is, and I have a few guesses, but nothing to really confirm._

_I hope this message finds you well, and that you return home with Tali soon. I miss you both so much. ~Rael_

Ember smiled a small smile at the message. One of those people Rael most likely suspected was her, and Tali. It was her, of course, and she’d have to tell him some time. But how would she do so? It had been years since she spoke to Rael yet it felt like a lifetime. So much had happened over the course of five years for her and where would she begin? She didn’t know. She’d have to sit down and send a message sooner or later though and that was without question. Ember wondered if she’d tell Tali as well or if she’d keep it a secret that she was contacting the Fleet, and her father.

She shrugged and decided she’d cross that bridge when she came to it, as the human term went.

The crew had come much more alive since she last saw the CIC. Some more formal crewmembers saluted her as she walked past and the more informal ones waved or nodded to her. She didn’t care which one she was given, as it didn’t fully matter to her. She nodded to them all the same though, as not responding was seen as disrespectful in human culture, and that was the last thing she’d want to do. She walked for the elevator, not caring about the galaxy map anymore, no matter how amazing it looked.

Just when she made it to the elevator, Joker interrupted her progress, “Hey, Ember?”

Ember clicked the small button on her suit next to her ear so that her mic would start to function once more. She disabled it when it wasn’t needed, like on the Normandy, but she always left the speaker on so she didn’t miss any conversation that she would become involved in.

“Yes, what is it Joker?” Ember asked, a little impatiently.

Joker paused for a moment before he spoke. “The Council would like to speak with you in the meeting room; I assume you know where that is.”

“Vaguely,” came the response.

“It’s where you, Nihlus and Anderson met before you all landed on Eden Prime.” Joker answered quickly, already having figured out where he would say what he did.

“Ah,” Ember said. “Okay. Now I remember; thanks Joker.”

“Anytime,” Joker said and Ember could almost hear the smile that had formed on his lips.

Ember clicked the button once more and then sighed. She couldn’t have a moment of respite, could she? She walked away from the elevator and down the stairs to where the room was. She stood just next to the railing and leaned against it, waiting for the transmission to be received.

It did so after only a second and the three figures of the Council members appeared, all in a holographic blue.

“Greetings, Oblivion,” Tevos said formally.

Ember shook the formality and the name away. “Ember is just fine, Tevos.”

Tevos nodded and let Valern take over the conversation on their end. “We have something to speak to you about.”

Ember dipped her head once in acknowledgement. “Is it that I should reveal my identity to the galaxy?”

Valern nodded hesitantly. “Not to the entire galaxy, but for a few select people. Only a few of us here on the Citadel knows who the ‘mysterious’ Spectre is and the Migrant Fleet has asked. We refused, saying that they should be the one to say it if they wished to.”

“Alright,” Ember said with a small, nearly unnoticeable sigh. “I’ll tell them. I received a message from Rael, one of the Admiralty Board members only a few minutes ago regarding myself, the Spectre.”

Sparatus was the one to take a step forwards and nod this time. “We’ve been pummelled with questions ever since we granted you Spectre, you better not be a waste of time and energy. But judging by the report of your mission on Therum, I say you are proving yourself worthy of it.”

Ember bowed slightly. “Thank you,” She nearly cut transmissions before asking something. “So what about the Embassy for our people on the Presidium?”

Tevos took charge of the conversation at that point. “What about it?”

“Will it be made, has it been fully considered, or was it simply tossed aside?” Ember asked.

Tevos bit her lip a little. “We felt that you should be the one to answer that question. Do you think your people are worthy enough for an Embassy?”

Ember nodded without a second of thought. “Of course I do.”

Tevos dipped her head once. “Then it’s settled. We’ll begin working on an Embassy for your people. Good luck with tracking down Saren, Ember.”

“Keelah se’lai, Tevos.” Ember replied.

Tevos nodded and then cut the connection and the room went dark. Ember sighed and lifted herself from the lean she had been doing for the duration of the conversation. Only one thing called in her mind at that point, and it was to go and see Tali. If she wasn’t in the cabin, she’d be down at the engines as she normally was.

She walked over the elevator and made sure to return any nod or salute or wave she was given. With a light tap against a button, the elevator opened and Ember slid inside to avoid anything that would delay her seeing Tali any further. She clicked the button for the top floor, her own personal floor, and groaned as the elevator inched away up the stairs to where she could finally fall back into the bed that she absolutely loved and hopefully fall back asleep. She didn’t know fully of what time it was, but she was exhausted. Ember only hoped that she wouldn’t dream of anything that made her heart ache for returning home.

The door slid open at last and Ember stepped inside the cabin she knew to call home. Tali was still sleeping, as Ember could hear her breathing, and it put her heart to rest. She didn’t have to get into a fight any time soon, and she was thankful for that.

Ember climbed into bed and Tali moved her head up a little. “You left?” her voice was low and deep from being tired.

Ember nodded. “I did,”

Tali nodded and settled back into the pillow. “Remind me to speak to you about that later,”

Ember chuckled and was greeted with Tali falling asleep once more. She sighed and closed her own eyes.

It was good to be home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, the questions.  
> I have one major one that I've been wondering for the better part of two months and still can't decide.  
> Should the chapters of this story stay the same length, be shorter, or longer? I can't decide since all have their benefits and downfalls. I assume everyone knows what the different of chapter length entitles, so I won't explain unless asked.  
> This one is another one that has been unable for me to solve: is Ember fleshed out enough? Is her personality stable or does it change from chapter to chapter?  
> Let me know either in the comments, or over at my email (thelonesurvivorao3@gmail.com), please.  
> I hope you enjoyed reading the newest chapter, regardless of my problems with this chapter.


	16. Attempted Decoding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone enjoys this chapter that I have managed to release earlier than anticipated.

“So, who exactly are you?” Tali asked.

“Well,” she began. “I’m Matriarch Benezia’s daughter, a scientist devoted to finding out more on the Protheans and a natural biotic. Does that answer your question?”

Tali eyed her suspiciously for a few seconds before reluctantly nodding. “I guess it does,”

She nodded and then looked to everyone else who had gathered in the meeting room. “So, now what?”

Everyone either shrugged or looked away at something else. Liara sighed. For everyone there being seasoned warriors, or at least she assumed as much, they had little to no social skills.

Ember was the one who finally spoke. “So, you really don’t know anything about your mother’s current activities?”

Liara shook her head. “No, I don’t. I cut contact with her years ago. Anything that’s been going on since then, I have no idea of.”

Ember frowned, or at least Liara thought she frowned. It was hard to tell any quarian emotion since it was all covered up by their suits. Liara imagined it would be awful to have to live in a suit for one’s entire life, and with a single removal of it, would most likely mean death without any sort of immuno-boosters. She had always felt sympathy for the quarian people, despite everyone else trying to tell her that they deserve what had happened to them. It wasn’t entirely their fault for what happened to them, as the Geth had evolved more than their programming had been.

She knew vaguely of the quarian’s origin story during her time on Thessia and when she met a few quarians away from their home willing to speak of their past and of those who knew it. She cast the idle thoughts from her mind and focused on the large group of aliens in front of her.

“Hey,” Ashley perked up. “What about the vision the Prothean beacon gave you, Ember?”

Liara’s eyes snapped to both Ashley, and a moment later, Ember. “You have a Prothean beacon?” Not waiting for a response, she pushed on. “Can I see it?”

Ember made another movement that Liara usually associated with a frown. “We don’t have one, and never did. It was on Eden Prime when we decided to go there a few weeks ago. It gave me a vision of sorts that I can’t make out as it’s garbled and each scene only flashes for about a second before another takes its place.”

Liara frowned in disappointment. She had really hoped to find a Prothean device with usable data. To know that it was left behind didn’t make her the happiest. “Why did you leave it behind?”

“Well,” Ember said slowly. “It exploded.”

That made things worse. Now the data was completely unusable for Liara, but one thought struck her. “If I could touch some of your skin, I might be able to decode some of the vision you received.”

“And how would you do that?” The other quarian, named Tali, asked.

“Well, I’m an asari, as I’m sure you know. We have the ability to meld with other partners, and it gives access to the other being’s mind. I can use it to help decipher the code you have placed into your head, Ember.”

Ember looked at Liara, but what emotion accompanied the look, Liara didn’t know. “How much contact do you have to make in order for you to ‘meld’ with me?”

Liara thought on that. She didn’t really know, but from what she guessed, she could touch a finger and do it. It was worth a shot, at least. “I say only a fingertip would do,”

Ember nodded. “Okay,” she didn’t sound fully convinced though. “My suit can shut off any air from making it deep into my suit. If it’s just a finger, that’s all that’ll be affected which won’t do much. Of course, I’ll have to patch it up as soon as we do this.”

Liara nodded in understanding. Ember would most likely call down the doctor of the  _Normandy_  to be there to help patch up everything and maybe even give Ember an immune-booster for extra precaution. With quarians, you just never really could know if something like a small suit puncture would be deadly, or relatively safe.

Liara saw Tali walk over to Ember and say something to her. She didn’t know what relationship they had with one another, as Ember had never spoken of such things with her, but it seemed to be at least at the stage of friendship. Ember nodded and the two of them walked out of the room without another word. They’d be back, and Liara knew what they were speaking about couldn’t be too good.

* * * * *

“So, what is it, Tali?” Ember said as soon as the door closed fully. She leaned against the wall and crossed her arms under her chest. What a pain cleavage was.

“You’re really going to let her meld with you?” Tali said. “And you’re going to puncture your suit just for that to happen?”

Ember nodded. “I am. I know you’re concerned, but hear me out on this. I have only the faintest ideas as to what the vision means and what it entitles, but it has to help. The Geth attacked the planet Eden Prime just for it,” she said. She had learned that after one of Anderson’s weekly mails that he sent to her. “So it has to be important.”

“But what if she’s feigning innocence and is actually working with the Matriarch?” Tali said, and Ember groaned and rolled her eyes, yet trying to be as polite to her protective lover as much as possible.

“Would a ship full of Geth and multiple krogan be sent to Therum to kill someone working with the Matriarch and Saren?”

Tali thought on that for a moment, trying to find something else to counter yet came up short. “I… guess not,” her head was hung lower than usual, but not totally.

Ember got up from the wall and looked directly at Ember. “I’m going through with this, Tali, please accept that fact.”

Tali nodded and hugged Ember. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt,”

Ember smiled softly and returned the hug with equal compassion. “I know. I’ll be fine, Tali. I promise.”

Tali looked up slightly to meet Ember’s gaze. “Okay,”

* * * * *

They both walked into the room and Liara couldn’t help but let a small sigh of relief escape her lips. Nothing bad had gone down, she hoped, and nothing involving her.

“What was that all about?” Wrex grunted. He was leaning against the wall and had been giving Liara suggestive looks the entire time. Liara had done her best to ignore them, yet he seemed to be closer to her every single time she glanced his way.

Not that many others were any better than he was. He noticed the two Turians had their eyes on her as well, not to mention the one human man who was there. It was odd that out of everyone there, there were only two humans. The whole crew was of humans though, which seemed quite odd. Maybe this wasn’t entirely Ember’s ship like Liara thought it was. Perhaps it was a gift or something, as it had the Alliance symbols all over it.

But the two humans that were in the room seemed more interested than one another than anyone else in the room. They had their eyes on one another, and Liara guessed that if they weren’t together already, they would be soon. The two turians and the krogan seemed to be interested in Liara though, and it felt a little uncomfortable being between three men that couldn’t take their eyes off her.

Sensing Liara’s discomfort, Ember made sure that when they made eye contact, to give a small signal that she was welcome to stand over on the other side of the table that was in the center of the room. Liara nodded and walked quickly over to the other side of the room where the guys dare not go near. Wrex had been the one to be the example for all the other guys as to why guys weren’t allowed to go on that side.

Ember wordlessly opened up her Omni-tool as idle chatter started to fill the room and began typing a message into it, most likely for the doctor, and seemed to ignore everything that was going on around her. Liara wondered how she did it.

A few minutes later, the doctor walked in and the idle chatter quieted down and soon enough ended all together. Chakwas nodded in thanks and walked over to the side that she knew was where the girls went when they didn’t want to be next to all the guys. Ashley was the only one that was on the other side with all the guys, yet she was at the end and closest to the door.

“So, Ember, I have a syringe that’ll boost your immune system within ten minutes and some extra material for when you cut some of your suit. You know what you’re doing?”

Ember shook her head a little. “Not entirely. I’ve never purposefully cut a piece of my suit off.”

Chakwas nodded and waited for Ember to stand still.

Ember took the hint without much difficulty and took in a deep breath and released before the needle had pierced her suit and was injecting purplish syrup into her veins. After Chakwas pulled the needle out, the suit automatically repaired the very small breach that was made in it and Ember sighed. Now they had ten minutes of waiting before the immune-booster was in full effect.

The ten minutes seemed to pass by really slowly. Wrex was joking with Nihlus and Garrus, who laughed at them while Ashley and Kaidan spoke of idle things like their pasts and their Alliance training and what they had to go through. Ember was sure that she saw Ashley begin to wrap her hand around Kaidan’s. It was good to see that they enjoy one another’s company, Ember thought. Liara was talking with Chakwas about medical science and their own types of science while they seemed to be able to understand what one another was speaking about. Tali and Ember had settled for just embracing the ten minutes and was currently leaning up against a wall enjoying one another’s company as well.

After the ten minutes had passed, Ember’s Omni-tool chirped and let her know that the time had come for her to experience whatever ‘melding’ truly was. Ember slowly let go of Tali and walked over to Liara and tapped her shoulder. “It’s time,” is all she said and Liara nodded in understanding. She may have seemed confident, but truth be told, she was scared. She was scared that she wouldn’t be able to meld with Ember and it would’ve all been for nothing, and that if she succeeded, she wouldn’t be able to decipher it either. Maybe she could, and she rarely doubted her abilities, but this time was one of those rare times.

By now, the whole room had silenced like it had been once Chakwas had arrived and when the needle had been pushed into Ember. Everyone watched patiently and no one spoke. Ember grabbed the knife from her boot, in the same place that Tali had hers oddly enough, and held it just above her most used finger of the three. She looked to Liara and nodded before cutting off a small part of her suit at the pad of her finger, despite her suit’s warnings against it. The warning certainly wasn't pleasant, and had a loud and obnoxious blaring that went off every half-second. But Ember did her best to ignore it as she cut the patch of rubber off and let it fall to the floor. Chakwas went to go and grab it while Liara took another step forwards. Ember looked at Liara, then to her finger and then returned her gaze to the Asari Doctor. She nodded, and Liara did as well.

Liara placed a finger on the patch of Ember's exposed skin, which was of an unusual greyish-blue with small lines of technology lining it. Liara couldn't help but wonder if every quarian looked like that. Just before Liara melded with Ember, she heard the quarian whisper “Don't delve too deep,”. She had to keep that in mind, and let her eyes switch to black.

Fortunately, it worked and Liara was free to find the Prothean knowledge within her mind. It didn't take too long to find the knowledge, yet it was scrambled well and Liara couldn't make much of it either. Although, she was able to decode it better than Ember ever could've. There was a small amount that she could gather, but it seemed to be a warning of some kind, or a message. She couldn't tell which one it really was and the images and what else was in it didn't offer much help to decode it any further.

One thing had nagged at Liara for the time it spent decoding what little of the message she could. What else had been stashed away in Ember's mind? Surely there was something important, like why she had an arm made of Geth material, or why her visor was cracked and she never fixed it or why she always had an aura of despair or dim happiness surrounding her; the exception being when she was around Tali. It was tempting to find out, but Liara knew that if she did, Ember would know it. Ember could've easily dug into her own mind, given she knew how which was quite simple to find out, but she didn't. She just waited. So, that in itself put a stop to Liara delving deeper than she was supposed to and it would most likely save her from the wrath that Ember was rumoured to have when really angry. It certainly seemed like something Liara wouldn't want to face.

With that, Liara left the meld she had made and with Ember and blinked a few times to moisten her eyes. Ember seemed to do the same, but it was hard to tell due to her suit getting in the way of a clear view. The only thing she could see of Ember without the suit was her greyish-blue patch of skin on her finger with lines of blue shimmering technology and the white eyes she had that seemed like they were small suns.

“Well,” Ember began slowly, “that was something.”

Doctor Chakwas wasted no time in rushing over to Ember, grabbing her finger and placing down the extra rubber and let Ember’s suit do the rest of the work. Within a couple of seconds she was finished and took a few steps back.

Liara nodded. “It’s pretty heavily coded, the vision you have. I was only able to get a little bit of it solved with my knowledge.”

Ember might have frowned, or maybe she didn’t. It was impossible to tell for Liara. “Right, well maybe we’ll find another Asari on Feros that can help out,”

Liara blinked. Did she hear the name of the planet correctly? Were they really going to Feros? _Only one way to find out_ , she thought. “Isn’t Feros the Prothean covered planet?”

Ember nodded, along with a few others in the group. “It is. There’s a colony on it that is under siege from the Geth and we’ve been tasked with helping,”

Liara nodded. “Would it be possible for me to tag along while you go there? I’ve never been to the planet myself, and I think that being there would be nice.”

Ember thought on the matter for a few seconds before a single question was asked. “Can you hold your own in a firefight?”

Liara nodded after some hesitation. She had been in a few skirmishes with pirates while on the hunt for more knowledge on the mysterious race of the Protheans, but she had never really fought. “I… I’ve been in a few skirmishes…”

Ember rested a hand on her hip. “Can you hold your own in a firefight?” She repeated.

Liara nodded once more. “Yes,”

Ember nodded. “Then you can come along with us when we go onto the planet. I just don’t need anyone getting injured and bringing down the team.”

“Speaking of which,” Ashley piped in. “Who _is_ going along with you down onto Feros?”

Ember had been planning it out for days, so she knew the list quite well. “Ashley, you’ll come down onto Feros with me, same as Wrex and Garrus.” She paused and then added “And Liara,” a few moments after.

They all nodded in agreement and decided it was the best course of action to go through with. Wrex could handle a huge amount of damage and he always wanted to be in battle, just as most Krogan. Ashley was a soldier and she would be good to have on the battlefield. Garrus also knew his way around weapons and had shown himself to be deadly with any weapon he was given. With that, they had a strong team that could take down any who opposed them.

It was a good group and it was fitting for the dense locations they were going to. Ember only hoped that Liara really could hold her own in any fight and wouldn’t be a burden for anyone in the group. Everyone in the group had to know how to both work together yet not be fully depended on the group that she had made. Nihlus, Wrex and Kaidan had shown that during their time on Therum so she had little doubt for Wrex once more. Garrus, Ashley and Liara were another matter entirely. Ember had seen how Garrus works alone a lot, so that might raise problems for the squad but she only hoped that it wouldn’t. Ashley was a soldier and they were trained to work in groups, or at least Ember hoped they were, so she was of little worry. Liara said that she had been in a few skirmishes and she, obviously, survived. Ember had her doubts about the Asari scientist, but was willing to see her through.

The only person she wasn’t so sure would work well with others was Ember herself. She had learned to survive on her own and battle alone against multiple foes. Her skills didn’t prove to be too much of a problem on Therum but they might prove to be a problem later like in a completely urbanized planet with tight hallways and narrow corridors.

She only hoped that she wouldn’t end up making a mistake at a critical moment. Because if she did… she didn’t even want to think on what would happen.

“Alright, meeting dismissed.” Ember said and grasped her hand around Tali’s.

Everyone in the room nodded and began to head for the door to continue on with whatever they were doing before, except for Tali. She stuck around with Ember and looked at the small patch of rubber currently being bound into Ember’s suit using some of the most expensive tech Quarians had.

“I hope it will be alright,” Tali said with a small trace of nervousness detectable in her voice.

Ember nodded. “We won’t know until tomorrow, or even later today. I hope that I don’t get sick either; wouldn’t be good for me at all.”

Tali gave a short nod in agreement and gave Ember a small hug before walking into the lift. “I’ll see you later,”

Despite not being able to see Tali’s face, Ember could tell that she was smiling. “Yeah, without a doubt.”

Ember waited until the lift was able to be used again and then made her way up to the cabin she now knew as hers and sat down in the chair with a sigh. She guessed she had to write that email back to Rael and what better time than right after she had to cut off a piece of her suit to decode a message she still knew little about?

She let the orange screen blink and flicker to life and opened the messaging system she had installed onto the computer and began to type the message she hoped would reach her adoptive father during an opportune time.


	17. The Message

Rael frowned at the sudden flare and audible ring his Omni-tool decided to make. It was late and he was nearly going to sleep before the noise had forced his eyes open. With a grunt, he opened it and looked at who had sent the message and his eyes snapped open in shock. It was from Ember. Instantly, he clicked on the message and began to read. It was more of a large letter than he had expected but that didn’t matter. He could at least read one of his daughter’s words for the time being.

_Rael… father;_

_I got your message. The one about the Quarian Spectre. It’s good that word spread so fast about it, at least to the Flotilla. I would suppose that now would be a decent time to tell you. The mysterious Spectre is me; Ember. Believe me, it’s a long story to how it all lead up to there and the memories are not ones I would like to dig up._

_Tali is fine. She’s with me on the ship I’m currently on, (and own!) and in good health. Her and I have had some good time with one another during the past few weeks, but I can’t speak for the past few years._   
_Rael frowned at Ember’s last addition to the sentence but continued to read, with surprise and a small amount of pride in Ember being the captain of her own ship._

_It’s been a long time since we last spoke, and you don’t know, or maybe you do, how much I want to hear your voice again, or for at least everything to go back to the way things were. But I promise I’ll have something of value to offer the Fleet, besides my Spectre position and getting an Embassy in the works for us (yes, I talked to the Council about it and they’re willing to give us another chance!)._

_Even though I have done so much over the years I’ve been gone, I still don’t feel like I’ve done enough. I have a ship, a crew, a status in the Council, and the ability to convince the Council to make an Embassy for us for the first time in centuries. It just doesn’t feel like enough, you know? But I’m not sure what else I can do. I have an important mission for the Council, and that’s it. After that, I don’t have anything else to do. Perhaps I’d go back to the Fleet like you would want, if I know you well enough._

Rael felt his lips curve into a tiny smile.

_I’ll go to the Flotilla once my task is done, alright? Or if I can spare enough time between the two locations I am going to. I wish interstellar travel was faster, honestly. Maybe it will be in a few years or so, we could make something to just instantly teleport us halfway across the galaxy. Ah, if only…_

_I hope you’re well and you haven’t been too lonely without us. Keelah se’lai._

The message ended and Rael turned off his Omni-tool and sat in the darkness of the small and cramped room of his cabin on board the Rayya. He couldn’t feel anything else but pride for his daughter and a building excitement for when she returned and for tomorrow, when he’d tell everyone what his adopted daughter had done. It seemed hard to wrap his head around all the accomplishments she had achieved. She’d gotten a ship and crew, a role in the Council which seemed impossible and an embassy for her people, not to mention what she didn’t tell. All within five years. How she did it, Rael didn’t know, but he couldn’t wait to find out.

Even though Ember had said she didn’t want to delve into those memories, Rael still wanted to know them. Unless she felt too uncomfortable about it that she couldn’t speak of it. That was an exception, really. He felt something lying beneath the message that she didn’t want to speak about: something that had set off a chain reaction that set her down the course she went, but he had no way of knowing what it was. He wished that what had transpired didn’t change her for the worse and that she had made more friends than enemies through her journeys across the stars.

He stepped out and looked at the dark void that was space and laid a hand on the window. He hoped his girls were as safe as Ember had said and that he got to see them soon. It was all he could really hope for at the time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the short chapter I've made for you all, (only 777 words, sorry) but I felt that a small chapter was better than none at all. So you might be wondering why it's been a month and I've only made a chapter less than 1k words, but I have fair explanation for it.  
> I've been working on another story of mine that has made it to its second chapter only, but it's over 7k words strong right now. (It currently doesn't have a name, since I've been unable to name it since I can't fully pinpoint the way the story's going.) And it has sucked all my attention away from this story as a result. I'm really excited to be posting it sometime in the future though, and have it be continuously worked on after its initial post.
> 
> So, for anyone wanting to know a little about the story, it's a blend of the universes FTL: Faster Than Light and Mass Effect and focuses more on characters and their involvements with one another. It's following John Shepard as he's forced into conscription by a desperate Alliance fighting off rebels who go under the banner of the Federation and his way from training to the front lines while flying in starships, conversing with the many races of both universes and experiencing not being the only important person in the entire galaxy, and instead, experiencing life as a person down on the bottom rank.  
> I have no idea when it will be uploaded (maybe when I hit chapter 5 or later) or earlier if requested.
> 
> That's all I wanted to say for this time around and I hope you enjoyed the small chapter and check out that other story when it gets posted. :)


	18. Author's Note: Please Read!

Greetings everyone! Yes, I know it’s been awhile since the last upload and I know it’s odd to see me writing this as a note rather than a legitimate chapter.

It is with a heavy heart that I will be announcing the end of this story (not really the kind of thing you’d want for Valentine’s Day, is it? Oh well…). I know, I know, I haven’t even covered half of the first game and I’m already cancelling it. But, now that I have you all saddened, I’ll say the good news. I’ll be doing an official rewrite of the story with a much more likable upload schedule and fixing what I really, really dislike about this story!

I’ll explain my reasoning behind my decision now, I suppose. I really didn’t like how the story was, personally. You all might think of it as fine or even great and I thank you so much for it, but _I_ don’t like the story and that’s the problem. There was so much I wanted to do with Ember that I didn’t end up writing. I had wanted to write more than three or four chapters of her time on Omega (I had originally planned for 15-20 chapters in Omega, believe it or not), she is more akin to a cardboard box than who I want her to be and she’s a lot more… the same. Omega and being captured by slavers was really supposed to change her from a kind-hearted individual to one who still has good within her, but has mostly become a renegade of a person in order to just simply survive.

Akuze was also supposed to be a few chapters longer, the writing itself was supposed to be of a better quality (read ‘Of Ash and Snow’, my latest novel, and you’ll see the difference), I wanted to explain things a whole lot better, Nihlus was supposed to be present more and be more in charge of the whole thing, Ember realistically couldn’t just become a Spectre by someone adding her name into the votes and she’d have to undertake the task of taking down Saren to prove she was worthy enough, as well as her race, to be given their embassy back and to have a Spectre, Ember’s nickname was supposed to be used a lot more and mean more as well, Ember’s personality was also supposed to have her more untrustworthy towards everyone except for Tali…

The list goes on.

So, I’m unsatisfied with the story and grimace every time I look over it which is something I don’t feel about any other of my stories (with the small exception being the very first chapters of The Reign of the Forsworn which was the first story I ever made) and shouldn’t feel towards Oblivion’s Call either.

To clear this up: I am not _just_ doing this for myself. I am doing this for you more than me, actually. You fantastic people deserve more from me and my writing than what I have made here, when I know I can do _so_ much better. You deserve to see what I can do when I go my own pace without accelerating to a breakneck speed and I aim to give that to you.

I don’t know when the rewrite will be posted, to be completely honest. I have so many other stories I want to create and devote time to that it will be tough for me to keep everything to my self-made standard. I have the new name made to show that the story will be similar to this one, but will be new and improved in almost every aspect.

Like, I have another novel for Mass Effect that has been working itself out in my mind for a week or so that is set in an alternate universe. I have a novel for Dragon Age I want to create, I have two novels for Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (plus another that I haven’t been giving attention for a while) and one for Skyrim that I also want to do. I swamped with ideas and I have to be careful with which I chose to work on or else my dashboard will become a graveyard of one-shots and unfinished novels that I tinker away at.

But, with that being said, I will finish up Of Ash and Snow, and then probably, now that I think about it, work away on the two Mass Effect novels at the same time (changing the fandom you’re working on within a few days in between each new chapter really isn’t easy, especially when they’re so different from one another). Chapters will be shorter for both, I think, so that I can put out new (high quality) content quicker and not become tired of working on the same chapter for weeks at a time.

The name of the rewrite will be ‘Redemption Through Heroism’ and will be released within the year, I know that much. I cannot say how long it will take for it to come out, though. (And if you like alternate First Contact War universes and Kaidan/FemShep stories, be sure to read the other story I have planned to come out, ‘Engineered for Victory’ when it gets released).

I’ll still leave this story up for anyone to read if you want to, but I promise the new story will be much more towards my goal of the story and as such, better. Ember will still be the main protagonist and everything, but much more of the rest of the story will be changed. So the story will remain here as unfinished for anyone to read and possibly enjoy but no further updates will be made for this tale.

You’ve always been so great as I’ve worked my way through this story and I can’t thank all of you enough for your words and opinions that you’ve given when I have asked in order to better the story.

If you have anything you want to say about this story, even suggestions and ideas for the rewrite, say them, please (of course, you can always email me as well if you prefer that). I always love to hear what you have to say.

Thanks for reading this and I’ll see you over at the rewrite.

~TheLoneSurvivor


	19. Second and Last Note

Okay everyone, this is my last and final entry to this story (maybe, I might add more if I feel the need but I really doubt it) and I just have to address a few things.

First is that Of Ash and Snow is taking me a lot longer to write mostly due to how I am feeling a bit uninspired and a little lost on the whole thing but, that is not why you’re here right? You’re here to know how a Quarian Shepard’s life would take place. But, I am saying this because of what I said in my latest entry which stated that I would begin working on Redemption Through Heroism when I finished Of Ash and Snow and that is taking longer than expected and it’s swiftly becoming longer than I had planned it to be.

And I have found that I’ve been chipping away at a first chapter for Redemption Through Heroism despite myself and it is nearing completion as you read this. But as I was writing this, the first chapter and for a few months prior to the two events literally just stated, I have been wondering how I will tackle the monstrosity that I have promised I will do (and I will, no changing that unless something _really_ good or _really_ bad happens), as I have done the math and with the stuff that I want to make, the story would end up being roughly 600k words if each chapter has 3k words in it.

That is a huge number when I look at it and I feel intimidated by the implications behind that number, believe it or not. So I have a few ideas that I’ve been playing around with that I could do. One is a metric ton of drabbles all loaded into a single collection that would cover the majority of the epic, although it would not be in order.

The second idea is to cut it up into four different novels, which I have kind of done already by splitting up the epic into parts, each one roughly 50 chapters in length. But the size of the novels on their own might change in chapter size and actual length.

My third idea is to make one-shots and novellas for the story and have it fill out in order, mostly, while skipping unnecessary bits and pieces and being right at the interesting stuff, all the time.

The fourth option is a combination of drabbles, one-shots and novellas which would be the easiest for me but probably one of the least prefered way to read through Ember’s exploits as you’d constantly have to go to different stories and possibly connect everything yourself instead of it all being displayed left-to-right as it were. I can see how the easiest idea for me, as I don’t get too committed to a single story and can easily update and write what I want without a full timeline blocking me, is also the least liked idea by you, the reader.

My fifth and final option (that I will talk about) is that I just stick with what I was doing before, making a large epic with the four parts in it that I chip away at sporadically. This one is probably the most widely liked idea by all of you, but again, it’s rather intimidating for me.

I have made a strawpoll with some additional options too, that don’t need any explanation I don’t think. Remember this though, I will be going by majority but I will make compromises between the two if some are neck at neck, so to speak. So, if making four novels wins but making novels and one-shots is close behind it, I will end up doing both but less of the one-shots and only when necessary while mainly sticking to making novels, and so on. I feel this would do the best for you all because I'd be satisfying more people than I would be if I solely stuck to a 'winner takes all' system. Oh, and you're allowed more than one vote in case you're struck with indecision or want a mix between four novels, a novella or two and a few oneshots.

So, if you care about this story and it’s rewrite and are willing to spend two minutes or even less, of your day picking an option that you feel is best for this story, please do so! It would mean a lot to me.

I remain, TheLoneSurvivor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the strawpoll, click [ here ](http://strawpoll.me/7332071)


	20. Actual Last Update

Hey everyone, final update this time;

Just informing all of you who care that I've published the first chapter of the new rewrite to Oblivion's Call, and the first novel is called 'A Life of Sin'.

I've got the general idea of what will happen, plus a slew of new ideas, a whole new style of writing (first person, present tense) and an altered storyline that remains mostly the same but also is quite different. I'll keep what I like and get rid of what I don't from Oblivion's Call. I've also made the title 'Redemption Through Heroism' into the title of the series and if I switch the story to an epic instead of being a four novel series, I will rename it to be Redemption Through Heroism.

This first story is all pre-ME1 so it covers Ember's early life, her life on a colony, enslavement, her time on Omega and Akuze; the whole thing. But, the main difference is how this will be entirely fleshed out and detailed, not just eight chapters of poorly-written backstory. Ember has a defined personality, goals and aspirations and my, she can get sidetracked with what she's talking about. I might remove the inner monologue but I don't know, I kinda like it. It explains a lot of her viewpoints, past and things she enjoys doing. The relationship between Ember and Tali will be, now, a slow burn instead of instantly diving into it and I was thinking of beginning it actually after the Citadel reconnect, where all the time before is actually true to the old summary "with her best and only friend".

The second story, as of now dubbed 'And I'll Touch the Sky' is all ME1 and will most likely have the same inner-time difference as a normal chapter has, if that makes sense. I don't know, might just leave it all combined as one epic that is monolithic but that's for me to decide when I reach that bridge. Can't very well plan for the road you're going to walk down when you don't have an accurate map, right?

In 'And I'll Touch the Sky' I will reinvent how the story goes down, and make sure to keep the story slow like 'A Life of Sin' is. No breakneck pace, because I missed out on so much that I wanted to expand upon. You  _can_ expect strong similarities between these two stories and what I got done on Oblivion's Call, as I will use that as a template for what worked for me and what didn't. But also expect changes, more expansion on things like other characters, Ember and the ways of life as a non-human in the galaxy. Might also dabble in economics and politics but that remains to be seen. I won't add it if it retracts from the story in any way, I know that much.

Thanks to the people who voted on the strawpoll a while back! It was only a few of you, but at least  _some_ people care about this silly little story. Again, thanks.

So for any of you who still care about this  _exact_ story and want to see it continue, I can only apologize because that will not happen. I am too disappointed by this story and what I wrote for it to actually just delete the chapters and remake it. Plus I feel that would just be using kudos and hits to make it seem popular. I don't know, maybe I'm just dumb.

Any subscribers for this story (there's still a few of you out there) I recommend either switching your subscription over to 'A Life of Sin' or just cancelling it. This is the final update I am posting for this particular story, although Ember's tale is currently being retold from a different perspective and, hopefully, much better.

If you want to discuss anything with me privately, my email is always open for you to contact: thelonesurvivorao3@gmail.com

I take suggestions and mull them over, with a good probability of them showing up in the story, so if you want your idea to have a strong chance of impacting 'A Life of Sin' and future stories in the series, that's the way to do it. I also answer any and all questions you have, so ask away!

I just want to thank each and every one of you for clicking onto this story, even the silly updates, each time a new chapter came out. It's a really heartwarming sight to see.

So that's everything and for the final time, I will, hopefully, see you over at the other story.

~TheLoneSurvivor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find the new story, 'A Life of Sin' [ here. ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6882154/chapters/15700225) Enjoy.


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